Many commentators and political actors have only recently begun to take seriously the possibility that the “transition period” for the UK’s exit from the European Union will end on 31st December 2020 without an agreement on the future EU/UK trading relationship. There was, however, always good reason to expect such a disruptive outcome, given the gap...Read More

What I see is European construction drifting towards a free-trade zone, that is to say an English-style Europe, which I reject. If we do nothing, this will lead in 15 years to a break-up. I reject a Europe that would be just a market, a free-trade zone without a soul, without a conscience, without political will,...Read More

It is high time Brexiteers admitted they must either choose Brexit, or the preservation of the UK, but they cannot have both, says John Stevens. There is a spectre haunting Brexit: the spectre of the break-up of the United Kingdom. All the powers of the Brexiteers have entered into an unholy alliance to exorcise this...Read More

There is a great deal of misleading discussion across the media and, indeed by MPs and government ministers, about the constitutional failure of the government and of parliament. The May-led government has undoubtedly made catastrophic misjudgements in its desire to hold together an almost irretrievably fractured Conservative party in attempting (and so far failing) to...Read More

A frequent criticism of the Prime Minister is that she prematurely triggered the Article 50 negotiations in March 2017 and did so without a realistic plan for their conduct. If she had waited longer and planned better, her critics contend, she could have negotiated a more acceptable Withdrawal Agreement and Political Declaration than the texts...Read More

Four conclusions emerge from the series of votes on Brexit in the House of Commons this week (29th January): • First, this government is so paralysed by internal division that it is incapable of pursuing any coherent policy in the negotiations. As long as it is in office but not in power, the UK is therefore...Read More

There are three major concerns with regard to Brexit for the UK: the internal UK economic and political damage caused by Brexit; the geo-political damage done to and by the UK in leaving the EU at a time of intensifying militant nationalism across not only Europe, but the world; the unconstitutional and undemocratic manner in...Read More

The issues relating to the status of Northern Ireland after Brexit, and in particular the Irish “backstop,” have not yet been resolved. The major political and administrative challenges confronting the Brexit negotiators in this area are however relatively clear. Assuming that the major economic changes ushered in by Brexit do not take effect until 2021,...Read More

The time has come for those of a Conservative disposition who believe that leaving the European Union should be stopped to state their case. Significantly this is primarily on the same ground as many Conservative Brexiteers: the preservation of the sovereignty of Parliament and of the United Kingdom. A clear majority of Conservative Members of...Read More

“England’s danger is Ireland’s opportunity” is an old Irish nationalist nostrum. Some see it revived in the pressure which Dublin has exerted upon London over the border in the Brexit negotiations. A few even fear that the unification of Ireland is being pressed, in time for the centenary of partition. Yet the same parties readily...Read More