“Unlike the previous political declarations, the scope for delay, fudge or obscurantist language has passed. This is now a time for clarity and plain speaking.”
Cox told the Cabinet that the EU’s admittance that the backstop can be temporary was a step forward. He is right, although the devil will be in the detail.
The talks appear to be taking place on a more constructive basis – and within striking distance of an accommodation.
The key to a good Brexit is empowering UK entrepreneurs to talk to their European counterparts and become ambassadors for Downing Street’s plan.
Meanwhile, almost a third of replies support a trade-off over a longer transition and the backstop. Two-thirds oppose any transition extension.
It now the main issue blocking a negotiated agreement – thus risking a No Deal and potentially a harder Irish border. In short, it risks triggering the very thing it is supposed to avoid.
Ireland has in recent years moved from a restrictive semi-theocratic state to a more relaxed definition of Irishness. And then there is Brexit…
It doesn’t support the EU and Irish Government narratives that are being pushed as part of the Brexit negotiations.
Ireland risks a hard border, imposed on it by the rest of the EU, if a way isn’t found by all parties of climbing off the self-contradictory backstop clauses.
If anti-private landlord agendas are allowed to shape Government policy, things will only get worse for them and for their tenants alike.
The significance of the Northern Ireland SpAd’s tweet lies less in its content than its author – and that it has been issued at all.
Number Ten has been desperate from the start that we must remain in the Customs Union – and endure a kind of semi-skimmed faux Brexit.
The only potential escape lane from a breakdown in the negotiation and No Deal gridlock is marked “to Canada”.
With the backstop blocking progress in the negotiations, the Government must map out its plan to mitigate the effects of no agreement being reached.
Cox’s intervention at May’s meeting of senior Cabinet ministers last week to discuss Brexit plans turned out to be crucial.