Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) - Garner Ted Armstrong Evangelistic Association

Northern Ireland political party agrees to end 2-year boycott that caused the government to collapse

The Associated Press — Tue, 30 Jan 2024 19:50:12 +0000

The breakthrough came after the U.K. government last week gave Northern Ireland politicians until Feb. 8 to restore the collapsed government in Belfast or face new elections.

Northern Ireland’s largest British unionist party has agreed to end a boycott that left the region’s people without a power-sharing administration for two years, it said Tuesday — a breakthrough that could see the shuttered Belfast government restored within days.

After a late-night meeting, Democratic Unionist Party leader Jeffrey Donaldson said the party’s executive has backed proposals to return to the government. He said agreements reached with the U.K. government in London “provide a basis for our party to nominate members to the Northern Ireland Executive, thus seeing the restoration of the locally elected institutions.”

The breakthrough came after the U.K. government last week gave Northern Ireland politicians until Feb. 8 to restore the collapsed government in Belfast or face new elections.

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Source: https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/northern-ireland-dup-end-boycott-rcna136310

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Boris Johnson’s humiliating Brexit options

Robert Peston — Tue, 15 Oct 2019 20:40:15 +0000

Boris Johnson

We should know on Wednesday night whether Boris Johnson has his Brexit deal proper, or whether he has an outline deal that will require a few more weeks of technical talks, or whether the gap is unbridgeable.

Why? Because Donald Tusk has made it clear there will be no serious negotiations at the EU council itself on Thursday and Friday, just a rubber-stamping exercise.

But Johnson knows that if he wants an actual deal this week, he’ll have to sign up to something very like a Northern Ireland-only backstop, which would represent a massive eating of humble pie – not cake – for him.

It would also be hard to sell to the DUP, who were in to see him on Monday night and ‘don’t think’ they are about to be sold out.

But Brussels believes there is a way to make Northern Ireland-only backstop palatable to a DUP that wants a route to a deal.

For Johnson there is a question about which is the bigger humiliation – either belatedly signing up for a backstop-bridge to his preferred arrangements for keeping open the border on the island of Ireland or a Brexit delay that might not deliver the deal he wants and would most definitely breach his only red line anyone remembers (namely do-or-die Brexit on 31 October).

For the first time since becoming prime minister, he faces a choice that will see him embarrassed – or worse – whatever he does.

Robert Peston is ITV’s Political Editor. This article originally appeared on his ITV news blog.

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Johnson faces new constitutional crisis as Brexit talks grind to a halt

Heather Stewart, Severin Carrell, Daniel Boffey and Lisa O'Carroll — Sat, 05 Oct 2019 21:18:48 +0000

It appears increasingly unlikely PM will hit deadline for deal laid down in Benn act.

With a Brexit delay forced on him, Johnson could fight a general election on a platform of a hard Brexit. Photograph: Han Yan/Xinhua/Barcroft Media

Boris Johnson is careering towards a fresh constitutional crisis, after insisting there will be “no delay” to Brexit just hours after government lawyers promised in a court in Scotland that he w ould obey the law and request an extension if he failed to clinch a deal within a fortnight.

The prime minister tweeted that there must be “new deal or no deal – but no delay”, echoing the words he used in his party conference speech in Manchester on Wednesday.

The dramatic scenes in court came as Brexit negotiations all but ground to a halt after the EU rebuffed UK requests for them to intensify over the weekend. It now appears increasingly likely Johnson will fail to hit the deadline for a deal laid down in what he calls the “surrender act”.

EU sources said there remained considerable doubt as to whether there was any basis for such discussions, given Johnson’s insistence on there being a customs border on the island of Ireland.

Meanwhile, Julian Smith, the Northern Ireland secretary, was told by a series of senior figures in Belfast that the “Stormont lock” envisaged in the proposal is unworkable, setting up a race against time to rework that aspect of the plan in time for the 17 October European council meeting.

The European Union (Withdrawal) (No. 2) Act, drawn up by rebel MPs and passed by parliament, states that if Westminster does not agree to a Brexit deal by 19 October, the prime minister has to write to the EU seeking an extension to article 50 until 31 January.

In extracts of legal papers submitted by the government to the court of session in Edinburgh, that emerged on Friday in a case brought by anti-Brexit campaigners, the government appeared to accept for the first time that it would have to make the request.

The papers, which the government declined to publish in full, stated that the prime minister accepts “he is subject to the public law principle that he cannot frustrate its purpose or the purpose of its provisions. Thus he cannot act so as to prevent the letter requesting the specified extension in the act from being sent.”

Campaigners brought the legal action to force Johnson to comply with the requirements of the act, also known as the Benn Act, after a series of suggestions from Downing Street sources that Johnson believes he has found a loophole in the law that will allow him to leave the EU on 31 October regardless.

The UK government refused to release copies of its submissions in this case to the media despite repeated requests by the Guardian, the BBC, and other news organizations.

Key excerpts of its pledge were read out instead by Aidan O’Neill QC, the lawyer for the green energy millionaire Dale Vince, the SNP MP Joanna Cherry QC, and the lawyer and anti-Brexit campaigner Jolyon Maugham QC.

O’Neill told Lord Pentland, the judge hearing the case, that Johnson had repeatedly contradicted that position, including in the Commons on Wednesday, by insisting the UK would leave on 31 October “come what may”.

As a result, O’Neill said, the court still needed to issue legally binding orders to force Johnson to comply with the Benn Act in an interdict or injunction. If the prime minister refused to do so, O’Neill could return to court to ask for Johnson to be fined or jailed, he added. Pentland is due to give his ruling on Monday.

No 10 declined to comment. Yet senior government figures, including some cabinet ministers, continue to insist privately that while they will obey the law as narrowly interpreted, they can still avoid any delay to Brexit.

An attempt to circumvent the law would almost certainly result in another bitter court battle for the government – but Johnson’s allies hope he could thereby present himself as the man trying to “get Brexit done” in the face of obstructionist remainers.

With a Brexit delay forced on him, Johnson could then fight a general election on a platform of a hard Brexit.

Senior government insiders suggest that to confront the challenge from the Brexit party, the Conservatives would have to promise to strike an even tougher bargain than the one the prime minister is currently offering to Brussels.

The backbench rebels who drew up the Benn bill hoped to avert a no-deal Brexit, but Johnson has angrily accused them of undermining the government’s negotiating position.

In Brussels on Friday, a European Commission spokeswoman said: “We have completed discussions with the UK for today. We gave our initial reaction to the UK’s proposals and asked many questions on the legal text.

“We will meet again on Monday to give the UK another opportunity to present its proposals in detail.” The spokeswoman added that the proposals did not “provide a basis for concluding an agreement”.

A senior EU diplomat said: “If we held talks at the weekend, it would look like these were proper negotiations. The truth is we’re still a long way from that. We need to work out quickly whether there is the opportunity to close that gap.”

But the Irish deputy prime minister, Simon Coveney, speaking after a meeting in Belfast with the Northern Ireland secretary, struck a more upbeat note, saying a deal was “not mission impossible”.

“I believe it is possible to change that [approach including the old backstop] but we have to make sure that while we change the approach the outcome has got to be the same,” he said, adding that he believed “it’s possible to do that with goodwill and energy on all sides” next week.

But Smith was told by several parties at the meeting that the proposal, backed by the DUP, to give the devolved government the final say on Brexit arrangements in the region after Brexit was a non-starter.

One source with knowledge of the meeting said: “The message has gone back from all quarters in Northern Ireland from Sinn Féin to the Traditional Unionist Voice that this is unworkable and it will destabilize the institutions and the Good Friday agreement and is not plausible – and in light of that, if he is serious about getting a deal, he has to come back with something more realistic.”

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Boris Johnson is edging closer towards agreeing a new Brexit deal

Adam Payne — Fri, 13 Sep 2019 12:36:43 +0000

The Democratic Unionist Party which props up the Conservative government is willing to drop one of its strict Brexit red lines, according to reports.
The Northern Irish party is reportedly willing to accept a regulatory border in the Irish sea.
This could pave the way to a compromise agreement between Boris Johnson and EU leaders.
However, it would likely fall way short of replacing the backstop in a way that is acceptable to Ireland and the rest of the EU.
Visit Business Insider’s homepage for more stories.

Boris Johnson is edging closer towards agreeing to a new Brexit deal after the Democratic Unionist Party, which supports his minority government, reportedly indicated that it was prepared to drop a major red line.

The DUP has been one of the main barriers to the UK parliament ratifying a deal, due to its opposition to any divergence between Great Britain and Northern Ireland after the UK leaves the EU.

The Northern Irish party repeatedly voted against Theresa May’s Brexit deal due to this opposition, leading to the collapse of her deal and her ultimate resignation as prime minister.

Under that deal, the ‘backstop’ for preserving the invisible Irish border would lead to Northern Ireland following EU single market rules, while the rest of the UK would not.

However, The Times newspaper reports on Friday that staunch unionist party indicated to Johnson it would now be prepared to accept some regulatory checks in the Irish sea between Northern Ireland and Great Britain.

This could be a key development in boosting the prime minister’s chances of a revised agreement with the EU.

The prime minister has said he will take the UK out of the EU without a deal unless Brussels agrees to scrap the backstop in is current form and that he would rather “be dead in a ditch” than delay Brexit for a third time.

The House of Commons last week passed a bill that would require him to request an extension if he fails to secure a deal after a crunch summit of European leaders on October 18.

As a result, the prime minister has since floated the idea of replacing the backstop with a model under which Northern Ireland would follow the same rules as the EU when it comes to “agri-food” checks on animal and plant goods.

How significant is the DUP’s reported concession?

Getty

The DUP moved quickly to reject the Times newspaper report. Foster tweeted that the party would not accept any barriers between Northern Ireland and Great Britain, and described the story as “nonsense.”

Even if the DUP did drop this particular red line, a deal on replacing the backstop would likely still be a long way off.

The Times report adds that the DUP will not accept any deal which would keep Northern Ireland in a customs union with the EU and that the party wants “alternative arrangements” to deal with new customs checks.

However, the EU has repeatedly said that the technology needed to carry out such checks without the need for physical infrastructure does not exist. Brussels is pushing for a backstop under which the province would stay in the customs union and follow swathes of single market rules until alternative means of preserving the border are ready.

Plus, Johnson’s suggestion of an arrangement covering agri-food goods excludes an array of other goods which cross the Irish border and would require checks in the absence of an agreement.

It’s also unclear whether a Brexit deal based a Northern Ireland-only backstop would get through Parliament.

Numerous pro-Brexit Conservative MPs in the European Research Group have demanded that Johnson scraps the entire Withdrawal Agreement, not just the backstop for Northern Ireland.

Our Brexit Insider Facebook group is the best place for up-to-date news and analysis about Britain’s departure from the EU, direct from Business Insider’s political reporters. Join here.

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Brexit LIVE: Theresa May SHUNNED by own party in election campaign – ‘She’s TOXIC!’

Paul Withers — Fri, 19 Apr 2019 10:53:17 +0000

TORY councillors will not mention Theresa May’s name on voters’ doorsteps ahead of the local elections next month due to voters associating it with ‘betrayal’ as the UK’s Prime Minister has still failed to pass a withdrawal agreement in Parliament.

Grassroots members of the Conservatives are concerned that her name will prove toxic and get in the way of their campaigning and instead have been focusing on the issues affecting people’s lives at home. The local elections will take place on May 2 when 8,773 council seats will be in the hands of voters across 259 councils in England and Northern Ireland.

Theresa May has had a backlash from Tories for not yet passing a Brexit deal (Image: GETTY)

Tory peer Lord Hayward has warned that the local elections could hit the Tories with a ‘Brexit penalty’ over how the party has dealt with its departure from the EU.

Sir John Curtice, Professor of Politics at Strathclyde University, said in The Telegraph: “Failing to deliver Brexit is now doing serious damage to the Conservatives’ electoral prospects.”

Jan French, chairman of the Conservative Association in a Cambridgeshire constituency said: “I don’t talk about her at all.

“As far as we are concerned these are local elections and they are nothing to do with national politics.

“We are having a bit of a tough time on the doorsteps and we want to be talking about local things we can do and achieve.”

Follow here for live Brexit updates today:

9.36pm update: May risks INFURIATING Brexiteers demanding her resignation with Queen’s Speech plans

Theresa May could enrage Tory MPs by asking for new legislative plans for the re-opening of Parliament after the Easter break – despite pledging she would stand down as party leader before the “next phase” of Brexit talks.

Government officials have been told to prepare final plans for legislation to be included in the Queens Speech, which opens Parliament annual after the Easter recess.

But The Times reports the Prime Minister told Government departments she will “actively consider” ideas for the speech, which details the Government’s legislative programme.

But the move will anger Tory MPs, following Mrs May pledging to stand down from office before the next phase of Brexit talks begin.

Any attempt by Mrs May to open a new session of Parliament will enrage Tory MPs asking for her to stand down.

It would also require a renewal of the Conservatives’ confidence and supply arrangement with the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP), who are at loggerheads with Mrs May over her Brexit plan.

Nigel Farage’s new Brexit Party has seen its popularity soar, according to one poll (Image: REUTERS)

8.33pm update: Bercow faces new plot to be OUSTED as Speaker – ‘Time to STAND UP to him’

Brexiteers have launched a fresh attempt to oust Commons Speaker John Bercow over his shameless Remainer bias.

Former minister Crispin Blunt has been rallying support for a motion of no confidence over Mr Bercow’s handling of laws taking Britain out of the European Union.

The Tory MP wants to pile pressure on the Speaker to quit after speculation he will stay in post until after the Brexit deadlock is resolved.

“Even his most partisan supporters for the positive changes he has delivered as Speaker do not now seriously dispute his bias in the conduct of our affairs,” he said.

“But it now goes way beyond the Brexit debate.

“The public should never underestimate how far reaching the implications of these powers are for our democracy.

“The holder of this great office decides which MPs can speak in the House of Commons Chamber during debates and selects the amendments that MPs vote on, giving the Speaker the effective power to shape legislation.

“If colleagues are too cowed or too content with the direction of his bias to state their view on Speaker Bercow’s obvious partiality, then not only will he feel able to continue, as is being reported in the media, but also feel able to do so exercising the power of his office wholly inappropriately.

“MPs will have failed to stand up for our most basic standards and have no one to blame but ourselves.”

6.27pm update: Farage’s Brexit Party DECIMATING ‘vulnerable’ Tories ahead of European elections

Nigel Farage’s new Brexit Party is displaying “significant pulling power” over the “vulnerable” Tory electorate, according to a leading political expert.

A YouGov poll suggested that the Conservatives only had 15 percent of the vote ahead of the European elections, whereas the combined score of UKIP and the Brexit Party had shot to 34 percent.

Political expert Matthew Goodwin told TalkRADIO: “If you look at the polls that came out yesterday – the Brexit Party and UKIP combined are on 34 percent.

“So that suggests to me that the Brexit Party still have a few more points to climb as it eats into that UKIP vote.”

Two MEPs think Brexit should be scrapped (Image: PA)

5.12pm update: Cabinet wasted £13m of taxpayers money for redundant no deal Brexit plans

Cabinet wasted more than £13million in just two months in a bid to find alternatives to the much-debated Irish backstop and prepare for a no deal Brexit that never happened.

The Government splashed out in vain £12.4million between mid-November and mid-January on external consultants’ fees and £700,000 more in a PR push publicising Theresa May’s withdrawal agreement and her hard Brexit plans.

The consultants were asked to draw up alternative plans to the Irish backstop, against which MPs had already announced in December they would oppose. They also had to prepare the country for a no deal Brexit if the British Parliament failed to reach an agreement by March 29.

But these costly efforts turned out to be ineffective, as the Prime Minister’s deal was overwhelmingly defeated on January 15 by a record 220 votes.

Labour MP and supporter of the pro-EU organisation Best for Britain Tonia Antoniazzi dubbed this wasted fundings “yet more clueless spending from the Government”.

3:59pm update: Lord Maurice Glasman has warned Brexit Party is a “serious threat” to Labour Party

The peer has said that Labour is at risk due to voters feeling ignored after the EU referendum result.

He said: “People see this clearly for what it is which is a refusal of the ruling class to accept their vote,” said the peer.

“If Labour can’t lead the democratic possibility of this then people will swing to the right.

“That is my obvious fear.”

2:29PM update: Tories re-select TWO MEP candidates who support a second referendum for EU elections

Theresa May has faced increasing pressure to support a second referendum as she remains in a bitter struggle to get her Withdrawal Agreement passed in the House of Commons.

Sajjad Karim, who has described Brexit as ‘madness’, will be top of the party’s MEP candidates list in the North West of England.

Also Charles Tannock, who co-founded the Conservatives for a People’s Vote campaign, will be on the ballot paper in London for the EU elections

Theresa May has been helping at her local 10km race (Image: LNP)

1:55pm update: Irish Brexit border issue could endanger EU-U.S. trade deal says a US congressman

Democratic Congressman Richard Neal said: “If America wants a trade agreement with the European Union, which I think is very desirable – I want it – at the same time you are back to the same issue on the border if you do anything that dampens or softens the Good Friday Agreement.”

Mr Neal is visiting Ireland with U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi.

12:27pm update: MEPs speak out about how uncertain their lives are currently

The MEPs thought they would not have a job after March 29 but the deadline of Article 50 continues to be pushed back so they are now living in a very uncertain situation.

Catherine Bearder, Liberal Democrat MEP, said to the BBC: “Life is never certain as a politician, but this is beyond anything I’ve ever seen before.”

Former UKIP MEP Nathan Gill called their nomadic situation “disgraceful”.

11:53am update: There has been an increase in number of people buying holidays on ferries after Brexit delay

European ferry services have reported a surge in sales of more than 50% as people book their summer breaks after Article 50 has been delayed.

Before the delay, holidaymakers had faced warnings of difficulties of travelling to Europe if there was a no deal Brexit.

11:10am update: Tories lagging behind Brexit Party ahead of EU elections

Nigel Farage’s new Brexit Party is displaying “pulling power” over the Tory electorate, says an expert.

A YouGov poll suggested that the Conservatives only had 15 percent of the vote ahead of the European elections – he combined score of UKIP and the Brexit Party had shot to 34 percent.

10:45am update: Theresa May helps out at the Maidenhead Easter 10km run in her constituency in Berkshire

The Prime Minister has been helping out this Good Friday.

10:16am update: Labour MPs urge Jeremy Corbyn not to insist on second referendum

MPs in the Labour Party are set to write a letter describing their “deep-seated reservations about a second referendum”, which they believe would be “divisive but … not decisive”.

The MPs say a second referendum could cause talks over Brexit to collapse.

9:18am update: UK families spend more on everyday goods due to Brexit

The fall in the value of the pound has resulted in the pound not stretch as far as it used to.

According to new research by the People’s Vote campaign, the average household will have paid £550 more since 2016 due to Brexit.

Additional reporting by Laura Mowat.

Source: https://www.express.co.uk/news/politics/1116298/brexit-news-latest-update-theresa-may-eu-deal-brexit-delay-conservatives-may-elections

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Brexit talks reach impasse as Theresa May issues EU with ultimatum

Scott Macnab — Fri, 21 Sep 2018 21:50:52 +0000

The prospect of Britain crashing out of the EU without a deal on trade or customs has intensified after Theresa May admitted yesterday that negotiations are at an “impasse” and accused European leaders of a lack of respect.

In a bullish statement delivered the day after her humiliating rebuff from EU leaders in Salzburg, the Prime Minister warned that EU officials must now come forward with fresh proposals before any progress can resume.

Theresa May speaks in Downing Street in the aftermath of the Salzburg summit, saying European leaders lack respect. Picture: PA

After her address, the Conservative leader faced claims her negotiating strategy was “collapsing around her” and that she was in denial over the shortcomings in her own so-called Chequers compromise deal.

Scotland’s First Minister Nicola Sturgeon warned a no deal Brexit will mean “huge damage” for the UK and result in a “heavy political price” for the Tories north of the Border.

But Mrs May insisted that EU proposals for a post-Brexit economic deal could lead to the “break up” of the UK and said this was “unacceptable” during the defiant seven-minute address. The Prime Minister cut a beleaguered figure after EU leaders dismissed her “Chequers proposal” as unworkable at a flagship summit in Austria on Thursday.

Yesterday Mrs May warned: “The EU should be clear: I will not overturn the result of the referendum – nor will I break up my country.”

The pound plummeted following Mrs May’s speech, giving up four days of gains on the US dollar to shed 1.5 per cent and close at 1.30 in London. Versus the euro, the British currency was down over 1 per cent at 1.11.

A no deal Brexit would mean costly tariffs on the import of goods to the EU and has prompted warnings that it could cost up to 80,000 jobs in Scotland alone and cost the economy billions of pounds.

But such a scenario seems increasingly likely as relations between the EU and UK appear to have hit rock bottom just six months ahead of the UK’s scheduled departure from the Brussels bloc next March.

Mrs May dismissed EU suggestions that the onus is on Britain to shift its stance, insisting that the ball is now in the European Union’s court.

The key barriers to a deal are the future economic arrangements and the Irish border problem. If the UK remains in the European Economic area (EEA), or single market, it loses the freedom to restrict immigration from the EU and to sign global trade deals. Alternatively, a free trade deal outside the EEA would see an effective border created in the Irish Sea, effectively segregating the UK from Northern Ireland, according to Mrs May.

“Neither side should demand the unacceptable of the other,” she warned.

“We cannot accept anything that threatens the integrity of our union, just as they cannot accept anything that threatens the integrity of theirs.

“We cannot accept anything that does not respect the result of the referendum, just as they cannot accept anything that is not in the interest of their citizens. Throughout this process, I have treated the EU with nothing but respect. The UK expects the same.”

The UK is ready to come forward with “new ideas” on unblocking the disagreement over future arrangements at the Irish border, Mrs May insisted.

Her position was welcomed by Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) leader Arlene Foster, who said: “The Prime Minister is right to stand firm in the face of disrespectful, intransigent and disgraceful behaviour by the European Union. The United Kingdom will not be treated in such a manner.”

But Sinn Fein President Mary-Lou McDonald said: “Rather than accepting that her so-called ‘Chequers Plan’ fails to resolve fundamental issues, Theresa May has engaged in deflection.

“Her focus has unfortunately remained on infighting within her own party and her pact with the DUP, instead of coming to an acceptable negotiating position.”

European Council President Donald Tusk’s assertion last week that the Chequers plan “will not work” also met with a stinging rebuke from the UK Prime Minister.

“At this late stage in the negotiations, it is not acceptable to simply reject the other side’s proposals without a detailed explanation and new proposals,” she said.

“So we now need to hear from the European Union what the real issues are and what their proposals are so we can discuss them.

“Until we do, we can’t make progress.”

The UK government will now continue the work of “preparing ourselves for no deal,” The Prime Minister added.

The three million EU citizens living in the UK will have their rights protected, Mrs May added, with a pledge that she will seek to avoid a return to a hard border in Ireland under such a scenario.

But opponents insisted that Mrs May has placed too much faith in her own Chequers deal which sought to allow frictionless trade, but would leave Britain to have control over EU immigration and make its own laws.

Source: https://www.scotsman.com/news/politics/general-election/brexit-talks-reach-impasse-as-theresa-may-issues-eu-with-ultimatum-1-4803792

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