The problem with Brexit is that it is undoable, say many Remainers. They are actually softening the blow when they say this; the truth is, Britain is unable to do Brexit because it simply isn’t up to it. I know, I know, this is the thing no one is supposed to mention. But look at […]
Will the EU’s last second “concession” be enough for May to get her deal through parliament?
Last night, Theresa May flew to Strasbourg to have a meeting with Juncker, this being the 11th hour so many Brexiters have predicted would be the moment of total EU capitulation. Both May and Juncker emerged triumphant at a press conference late last night, the British prime minister declaring that she’s got the deal now […]
Here’s what Theresa May should do now
I’ve explained what I believe the prime minister should do at several points during her premiership. Although I have been wrong on many things since I started this blog (most notably being sure the Tories would get a massive majority after the 2017 general election was called), I can’t look back and say any advice […]
I don’t see how we aren’t headed for a lengthy delay to Brexit
Several things obvious to eventually take place, at least to those paying close attention to the Brexit process, have been confirmed this week already. Geoffrey Cox, the Attorney General, has tacitly admitted that the EU isn’t going to reopen negotiations and change the backstop in any meaningful way. This means the ERG won’t vote for […]
Both May and Corbyn have backed themselves into a corner on Brexit – and this is what that might mean for what happens next
Theresa May is in real trouble on Brexit, but that’s no surprise. What is, a little bit anyhow, is the fight shown by Conservative MPs to stop no deal Brexit from happening. It wasn’t something I was counting on, particularly when you figure out that Tory voters aren’t going to thank them for it (even […]
Nothing Theresa May is doing now makes any sense, even on its own terms
For a long time, as many of you know, I was certain that May wouldn’t allow no deal Brexit to happen. Now, I don’t know. Perhaps parliament will figure out a way to stop it, if that’s what it comes to, but even that I have no strong confidence in. I’m not saying no deal […]
What a no deal Brexit would do to both major parties
There are some good articles floating around out there in the bubble about May’s thinking on no deal – the press in Westminster are starting to focus at long last on the fact that the country could be irreparably changing in a few weeks’ time. The logic goes that May always saw no deal as […]
Why a no deal Brexit is more likely to cause civil unrest than any other result
The debate around no deal Brexit has heated up to a place I never imagined it would. I always knew pretty much what Theresa May was going to do, and I have been mostly right on that front; what I failed to see was that the hardcore Leavers on the Tory backbenches would vote down […]
What happens if the Queen has to adjudicate Brexit?
Former senior legal counsel to the government Stephen Laws QC was on the Today programme this morning. He had a very interesting take on what’s happening in parliament at the moment. He presented the notion that the Queen might be required to decide whether certain Bills that had passed the Commons should get Royal Assent […]
Why after last night’s historic loss by the government, it is Jeremy Corbyn who is in real trouble
It is a sign of the very strange times we live in that the government could lose a vote by a whopping 230 votes and still no one was surprised when the prime minister did not resign. Or that the no confidence vote to be held in its wake is expected to be won by […]