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Jan 14, 20239 min read

Brexit Watch 14 January 2023


IN THIS ISSUE OF BREXIT WATCH

  • The Week That Was

  • In Other News (UK)

  • In Other News (EU)

  • Opinion & Analysis

  • Think Tank Corner

  • Podcast of the Week

  • Tweets of the Week

  • Events

  • New Release

THE WEEK THAT WAS Good morning from Amelia and Michael at Brexit Watch HQ. Let’s get into it.

Let’s all just Khan down? Never. In a speech at the London Government Dinner at Mansion House on Thursday night, London Mayor Sadiq Khan said that Brexit "isn’t working” and called for “greater alignment with our European neighbors” (BBC). In his sidestep around Starmer’s ‘Make Brexit Work’ line, Khan is playing clever politics says Natasha Pszenicki in her piece for the Evening Standard (titled “The way through Brexit hell is quiet negotiation, not loud hopes of rejoining”). Khan spoke like this, says Pszenicki, because “... for London, Brexit and the thin, desperate deal Boris Johnson signed two years ago was a disastrous move that has set us on an even steeper path of decline than many of our European neighbours.” This is true, but we advise Natasha to try looking beyond the M25. The Daily Mail (£) says that the Mayor has ‘let the cat out of the bag.” To us, this just seems like good sense from Sadiq. The cat’s been out of the bag for a while.

The Main Story: Northern Ireland Proto calls However, aside from Khan’s divergence from Starmer’s Brexit line, the main story this week was surrounding developments in relations between the UK and EU over trade and cooperation in Northern Ireland. Foreign Secretary James Cleverly met his Brexit counterpart Maroš Šefčovič along with Northern Ireland Secretary Chris Heaton-Harris for lunch at Lancaster House on Monday afternoon. A joint statement was issued after the meeting, outlining that the agreement made was “a critical prerequisite to building trust and providing assurance, and provided a new basis for EU-UK discussions.” “Both sides hailed an agreement in the area of data-sharing and EU access to British IT systems as a key step in resolving the row over the protocol, and which has left Northern Ireland without a devolved powersharing executive since early last year” (The Independent). Following the breakthrough on data sharing for cross-Irish Sea trade, Cleverly was then in Northern Ireland for talks with political leaders and businesses about the controversial protocol arrangements. Cleverly and (European Commission Vice-President) Mr. Sefcovic are set to meet again on 16 January. Enter again, Keir Starmer. The Labour Leader was scheduled to be in Northern Ireland yesterday for breakfast with the Brexit Business Working Group. After a hearty meal, Starmer delivered a speech at Queen’s University in Belfast. Read it here. Bloomberg’s view is that Keir Starmer’s visit “shows a return of goodwill... (and) progress for the first time in months.” Hold your horses though. Taoiseach Leo Varadkar warned on Thursday that even if a deal does come on the protocol, “Even a new UK-EU protocol deal might not unlock the doors of Stormont” (POLITICO). According to another Bloomberg piece, the Labour leader’s latest bid to stay on the front foot comes as “The European Union and the UK are preparing to enter an intense phase of negotiations starting next week aimed at overcoming the dispute over the post-Brexit trading relationship well ahead of the anniversary of Northern Ireland’s peace agreement in April.”

So, what’s the Tory in Balamory? Tory voters losing faith in Brexit benefits, poll finds (The Telegraph). This news has, writes Daily Record, left Scotland in state of 'Brexit limbo' . According to, Jacob Rees-Mogg, this is because “Brexit is being surrendered to the declinist Europhile establishment” (The Telegraph). A more reasoned view is that of polling veteran John Curtice, who said that “The lesson for Brexiteers is clear. They cannot assume that their narrow electoral success of seven years ago is necessarily the final word on the matter. The case for Brexit will need to be constantly re-stated and demonstrated – and success in that endeavour probably requires a much healthier economy than Britain enjoys now” (The Telegraph). Meanwhile, on the other side of the dispatch box, Keir Starmer denies changing Brexit stance to appeal to Leave voters (The Independent). We haven’t been sold on that line quite yet...


Brexit in Parliament this week: The week began with a debate on the “Procurement Bill to unleash opportunities for SMEs”. This was the second Reading in the House of Commons. In the government’s words, this Bill offers “transformative new rules which rip up bureaucratic EU regulations”. A call for evidence is now open. On Wednesday there was an adjournment with David Linden (SNP) on the Retained EU Law and trading standards, as well as a Westminster Hall debate with Patricia Gibson (SNP) onSskills and labour shortages. On the matter of the Retained EU Law Bill, the Work Foundation think tank warned on Tuesday that the Bill could put the rights of millions of U.K. workers at risk. For more, we recommend reading UK in a Changing Europe’s explainer piece (as well as their UK trade tracker). You can also sign our petition for the government to drop the bill here.



Alastair Campbell’s Diary: The right wing media are, finally, waking up to the reality of Brexit (The New European) Alastair Campbell analyses the relationship between the ‘media’ and social media emphasising that even the right-wing hacks are seeing the truth about Brexit. Also, keep your eyes open for the paragraphs on Campbell’s recent interview with EM President Michael Heseltine where Heseltine clearly points out that to him “Brexit is not irreversible”.

United Kingdom: 'Brexit finally entering the age of reason' (Le Monde) (£/€) Eric Albert, London correspondent for Le Monde discusses how, for the most part, the British public regrets leaving the EU. Yet no one is calling for a return to the past.

Brexit turned us into fools and now Rishi Sunak speaks to us like children (INews) (£/€) Ian Dunt, i columnist and author of How To Be A Liberal, analyses Sunak and Brexit, but more specifically the long-term effects that Boris Johnson’s time in power will have on our nation. Dunt, states that the key lesson learnt from those around Johnson is that politics is about fooling the public, so no wonder Sunak treats us like fools, because that’s exactly what he thinks we are.

Europe’s borderlands (The New European) Former MEP and Member of EM National Exec, Richard Corbett analyses the situation with trade between Northern Ireland and Ireland, outlining that perhaps this situation may be far more common than we think.

Rishi Sunak can’t afford to keep ignoring Brexit’s calamitous impact on the UK economy (INews) (£/€) Chief Political Commentator, Paul Waugh, discusses how it is only a matter of time before Sunak must admit that Brexit is partly to blame for rising inflation in the UK.

The UK is failing to match lost EU regional funding (The Guardian) Dr. Olivier Sykes, University of Liverpool, emphasises the economic effects of Brexit, saying that it is misleading to argue that there is an equivalent level of funding through the UK shared prosperity fund and other sources as there was when we were receiving EU funding. THINK TANK CORNER

Health and Brexit: six years on (The Nuffield Trust) The Nuffield Trust highlights the impact that Brexit has had on the NHS, emphasising that the worst may still be to come, stating that in most cases problems in the NHS seem likely to continue – potentially even worsen if the exit and trade agreements are disrupted in the coming months.


PODCAST OF THE WEEK What has Brexit done for Britain? (The Guardian) It’s three years since the UK officially left the EU. For many of those who voted to leave in the 2016 referendum, it was in answer to a promise to take back control – of funding, over farming, over immigration and trade. But have those promises been kept? Lisa O’Carroll, the Guardian’s Brexit correspondent, and Heather Stewart, a Guardian special correspondent, tell Nosheen Iqbal what they have learned from travelling the country to build up a picture of Brexit’s impact. From Welsh sheep farmers to tea exporters in Reading, they explain how changes in bureaucracy and subsidies have affected people’s livelihoods – and how a lack of EU workers has made recruiting more difficult. TWEETS OF THE WEEK EVENTS

The Art of Persuasion: Part 2 (Training Event – re-run) A substantial proportion of the people we talk to on street stalls and on doorsteps are potential recruits to the pro-EU cause: they include ‘soft leavers’, who are not committed to Brexit, ‘lapsed remainers’ who have accepted Brexit as a fait accompli, and those who have not formed a view. How can we persuade people who are not yet pro-EU to change their minds? A different approach, “Deep Canvassing”, aims to change political opinions by means of a non-confrontational conversation, using empathic listening and real-life stories in preference to argument and presentation of facts and figures. Developed in the United States, Deep Canvassing is backed by a strong evidence base, and has been used to good effect in many campaigns, including the 2020 presidential election. By popular demand, a training event held on October 17th will be re-run on January 17th (6pm). The session will be facilitated by two of the webinar presenters, Ella Barrett and Richard Kilpatrick. For eligibility information and to register in advance for this meeting click here.

UK- EU relations: past, present and future (UK in a Changing Europe) Marking three years since the UK’s withdrawal from the European Union, and 50 years since its accession to the European Economic Community, on 24th Jan 2023 (1:30-5pm) UK in a Changing Europe will bring together leading authorities to discuss the UK/EU relationship. Panellists include former EU Commissioners, journalists, academics, and politicians. To attend the event either virtually or in person, sign up here

Brexit Polling: Beyond the Numbers (Grassroots for Europe) On 15th February (6-7:30pm) Grassroots for Europe are hosting a webinar on polling. The webinar brings together three experts (Richard Bentall, Peter Kellner, Flo Hutchings) to discuss how to interpret the polling data, and the implications for pro-EU campaigning. The session aims to develop a greater awareness of the meaning of polling data and how to use the data in pro-EU campaigning. Register in advance for this meeting at via TicketTailor.


NEW RELEASE EU Fiscal Capacity: Legal Integration After Covid-19 and the War in Ukraine(Brexit Institue) Professor Federico Fabbrini, Founding Director of the Brexit Institute, is the author of the new book “EU Fiscal Capacity: Legal Integration After Covid-19 and the War in Ukraine“. The book analyses the COVID-19 pandemic and the war in Ukraine from an EU law and policy perspective. It also addresses the effects of the pandemic and the war in Ukraine on Europe’s Economic and Monetary Union. Finally, it provides a detailed legal and constitutional analysis of the ‘Next Generation EU’ Recovery Fund, explaining the political dynamics that led to its adoption. To conclude, the book compares the economic integration of the EU in the aftermath of the pandemic with the US system of fiscal federalism and makes the case for permanent fiscal capacity in the EU.


A LETTER TO THE EU, from Syria (Antje Teresa Mangeant) A Letter to EU Leaders, from Syria is a multimedia chronicle of human stories from the Syrian Refugee Crisis, focused on a plea for humane treatment from EU Leaders. From January to September 2021, it was estimated that 1,369 migrants died while crossings the Mediterranean Sea. In 2020, the number of deaths amounted to 1,400. However, the accurate number of deaths recorded in the Mediterranean Sea cannot be ascertained. Between 2014 and 2018, for instance, about 12,000 people who drowned were never found.

A year in the making, this short film was collaboratively made by people all over the world, through the power of being able to form connections through social media.


THAT'S IT FOR THIS WEEK!Please note that the external sources quoted or linked to in this newsletter do not necessarily represent the view of European Movement UK.

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