Britain’s Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, right, shake hands after a press conference at Windsor Guildhall, Windsor, England, Monday Feb. 27, 2023. (Dan Kitwood/Pool via AP) I was asked recently why I never write these days about Brexit, beyond posts on Twitter, or X as it now is. The answer is simple. Brexit is done. Finished. The UK is no longer a member of the European Union. That was the point of Brexit. To take the UK out of the EU. As Rishi Sunak, the UK prime minister and other ministers are forever telling us, the UK is now an “independent ..read more

I stopped writing a weekly comment on Brexit when Brexit was done. Brexit is done. The UK is no longer a member of the European Union. There can be no argument about that fact. But some will say, Brexit is not done. Look at the ongoing dispute about the Northern Ireland Protocol. Look at the issues surrounding visas for, say, British musicians to tour Europe, or the uncertainties surrounding short-term business trips and whether visas or work permits are required for such trips. The UK has still to impose border controls on goods coming from the EU into the UK. UK scientists are shut out of t ..read more

Photo from: https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-scotland-scotland-politics-62504531 As the Conservative Party contest to select a new party leader, who will also become Britain’s next prime minister, drags itself through these hot, dog days of August, Brexit barely gets a mention. Except for the repeated assertion from both contenders, Liz Truss, the foreign secretary, and Rishi Sunak, a former chancellor, that a bill currently before parliament will magically solve all issues associated with the Northern Ireland Protocol. Everyone who is not a member of the Tory Party knows it will result in a trade ..read more

Gavin Barwell with Theresa May in Belfast, July 2018. Photograph: Paul Faith/AFP/Getty Images Over the holiday break I read Gavin Barwell’s Chief of Staff, Notes from Downing Street. As a tale of intrigue, vengeance, backstabbing, delusions (multiple) and incompetence (widespread) it could hardly be bettered. As you read through the book one thing becomes clear, beyond doubt. The Brexit fights in the cabinet and the wider Tory party that Barwell documents were fights for the ideological soul of the party. For the most ardent Brexiters, leaving the EU was a means to an end. The end was the comp ..read more

This is the first BEERG Brexit Blog I have posted here since my last “semi-final” one about three months back. As I said in June/July I do not intend to continue with the regular almost weekly briefings, but I may occasionally post some more reflective pieces here, from time to time.      An American friend asked me recently: “Tom, do you think the UK will re-join the EU in the near future?” My answer was simple. No, not now, and not for a very long time. If ever.  But surely, they said, if Labour gets into government it will start talking to the EU? Its members are pro-EU ..read more

This is my last Brexit Briefing. Because it is the last it is longer than usual. A long goodbye if you will. Over the past 5 years I have written 130 of them, following the twists and turns of the Brexit saga, as various UK actors came and went upon the stage, generally full of sound and fury, but often signifying little. My little offerings were nothing compared to those of Chris Grey or Tony Connelly but people seemed to like them, for all their shortcomings.  Brexit and Borders For all the twists and turns, for all the complications, the story of Brexit is a simple story of the UK try ..read more

Over the past week I have been organising a webinar for BEERG members on the proposed EU Directive on gender pay transparency.  The proposed Directive aims “…to strengthen the application of the principle of equal pay for equal work or work of equal value between men and women through pay transparency and enforcement mechanisms”.                                                  (See the EU proposal here)  While writing the webinar announcement, I noted that: “t ..read more

In a speech delivered last week, John Whittingdale MP, the United Kingdom’s Minister of State for Media and Data, told a conference of Privacy Laws & Business that he welcomed:  … the European Commission’s February publication of draft data adequacy decisions for the UK, which rightly reflect our high data protection standards and paves the way for their formal approval. The draft decisions will now be shared with the European Data Protection Board for a non-binding opinion and the European Parliament before being presented to Member States for formal approval. I urge the EU to ..read more

This is a guest post courtesy of our good friend John Lichfield the veteran correspondent on all things French and European. It appears here as a BEERG Perspective. These are regular papers on topics of broader European interest. BEERG Perspectives – John Lichfield previews the 2022 French presidential election ..read more

  Cartoon via Martin Shovel Brexit will never be done. Because it can never be done. Not for as long as the UK sits 50km off the European mainland and does 50% of its business with Europe. Not when the island of Ireland sits behind it – and the north east corner of that island is contested political ground. Brexiteers may wish the UK was in the middle of the Pacific, as far away from Europe as possible, but that is not going to happen any time soon. Actually, it is never going to happen. Brexit, for the Brexiteers, is a labour of Sisyphus. Just when they think they have pushed the boulder ..read more