As the Brexit rhetoric heats up in Westminster, the atmosphere in Brussels is decidedly cool. That’s because the UK is electioneering, rather than negotiating.
It has been three-and-a-half years since the Brexit referendum, two years since a disastrous general election that lost the Conservative Party its parliamentary majority and two months since a new prime minister was installed, and yet little has changed.
Many Remain and ‘soft Brexit’ supporters are placing their hopes on the ‘Benn bill’ (an amendment by Labour MP Hillary Benn that would force the prime minister to seek a Brexit extension if he can’t get a deal by 19 October), and a groundbreaking Supreme Court decision this week that found prime minister Boris Johnson’s suspension of parliament was “unlawful” (EUROPE 12334/18).
But it’s unclear if either move will help to seal a Brexit deal. Former (conservative) prime minister John Major believes the government will use a workaround to avoid asking for a Brexit extension. In a speech on Friday, he said the government could pass an ‘Order of Council’ to delay the entry of the Benn amendment until after Brexit day on 31 October. The order can be passed by government ministers, bypassing the Queen and parliament, which Mr Major said would be “a piece of political chicanery that no-one should ever forgive or forget”.
Mr Johnson says he will respect the law and take the UK out of the EU by 31 October, which appear to be contradictory aims. He is also upbeat about the prospects of renegotiating the Irish border backstop, despite the EU continuing to throw cold water on his government’s latest “non papers” on the subject.
The conservative party, meanwhile, is ramping up its ‘parliament vs the people’ campaign, calling the Benn bill a “surrender bill”, language that is apparently winning over its Brexiteer base. The Huffington Post’s Paul Waugh hears that the party has had its best fundraising week ever, despite angry and emotional scenes in parliament this week. Mr Johnson was accused of using inflammatory and populist language, and was lambasted for saying that “getting Brexit done” would honour the memory of murdered Labour MP and Remain campaigner Jo Cox.
UK Brexit secretary Steve Barclay is back in Brussels today, following a series of meetings with his EU counterparts (he was in Prague this week, following a controversial speech in Spain last week, in which he appeared to threaten Spanish and Irish exporters). The EU continues to beg the UK for “workable” proposals to keep the Irish border open, while losing hope that they will ever materialise.
The Brexit debate may have hit a new low this week, but there is plenty of depth left to plumb. (Sarah Collins)