Culture clash: Nick Gutteridg
Posted: Sat Apr 05, 2025 6:43 am
Getting worried: But Johnson’s no-deal threats do appear to be spooking EU27 leaders. In the Times, Bruno Waterfield says the EU is now working up a strategy to avoid a “Brexit cold war” in the event of a no-deal Brexit. While they hope the opening of trade talks could help to warm relations, leaders fear EU27 unity might not hold over the terms and conditions of those talks.
e, who is on the ground in Brussels, has a must-read thread looking at the EU27’s current Brexit perspective. “EU negotiators acknowledge the Withdrawal Agreement is ‘toxic’ and are aware why, even if they don’t understand the British reasoning. They see the backstop as a rare U.K. triumph, securing tariff and quota free access to the single market with few of the usual strings attached,” he writes.
Ulterior motive? Some Tory MPs are wondering whether Johnson is purposely setting the bar too high to force an election, according to Tom Newton Dunn in the Sun. “Speculation was rife in Westminster on Thursday night that his plan was to threaten a no deal knowing parliament would try to block it. That would give him an excuse to call a snap election to boost the Tories’ majority of just two,” TND hears.
About that election: Editor of the telegram data Spectator Fraser Nelson writes in the Telegraph: “The changes we’ve seen so far suggest that this is not, really, a Cabinet for government – it’s campaign team for a general election.” The FT’s James Pickford and Anna Gross pick over the two scenarios that could propel the U.K. into another general election.
Also eyeing an election: Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn, who addressed an anti-Boris rally in Westminster last night, warned grassroots members to be on notice for a snap election. He set out five election pledges, including a promise to offer a public vote on any Conservative Brexit deal. The Guardian has written up the details.
AND WHAT ABOUT NORTHERN IRELAND? The new Northern Ireland Secretary Julian Smith is expected to fly to Belfast today for talks with the different Northern Irish parties. Getting the Northern Ireland Assembly up and running again is top of his in-tray.
e, who is on the ground in Brussels, has a must-read thread looking at the EU27’s current Brexit perspective. “EU negotiators acknowledge the Withdrawal Agreement is ‘toxic’ and are aware why, even if they don’t understand the British reasoning. They see the backstop as a rare U.K. triumph, securing tariff and quota free access to the single market with few of the usual strings attached,” he writes.
Ulterior motive? Some Tory MPs are wondering whether Johnson is purposely setting the bar too high to force an election, according to Tom Newton Dunn in the Sun. “Speculation was rife in Westminster on Thursday night that his plan was to threaten a no deal knowing parliament would try to block it. That would give him an excuse to call a snap election to boost the Tories’ majority of just two,” TND hears.
About that election: Editor of the telegram data Spectator Fraser Nelson writes in the Telegraph: “The changes we’ve seen so far suggest that this is not, really, a Cabinet for government – it’s campaign team for a general election.” The FT’s James Pickford and Anna Gross pick over the two scenarios that could propel the U.K. into another general election.
Also eyeing an election: Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn, who addressed an anti-Boris rally in Westminster last night, warned grassroots members to be on notice for a snap election. He set out five election pledges, including a promise to offer a public vote on any Conservative Brexit deal. The Guardian has written up the details.
AND WHAT ABOUT NORTHERN IRELAND? The new Northern Ireland Secretary Julian Smith is expected to fly to Belfast today for talks with the different Northern Irish parties. Getting the Northern Ireland Assembly up and running again is top of his in-tray.