Pundits are formulating increasingly convoluted, bellicose justifications for the UK breaching int’l law (eg. @benhabib6 on Sky claiming this is an “annexation” of Northern Ireland by the EU). It might be useful to have a factual thread on the basics, for you to share. 1/8 ~AA
It’s the indefinite nature of the Good Friday (or Belfast) Agreements that tie the UK to the Republic of Ireland (and, by extension, the EU) indefinitely. NOT the Withdrawal Agreement, which was drafted to reflect precisely the UK’s existing guarantees under the GFA. 2/8 ~AA
European Union membership is written explicitly into the GFA, (as is adherence to the European Convention on Human Rights). It envisages integration as not reversible, preceding as it did the Lisbon Treaty and its mechanisms for leaving the EU, by a decade. 3/8 ~AA
The GFA contains no references to hard or soft borders. The UK’s central commitment is to preserve peace, with much broader guarantees of “cross-border cooperation” and an “all-island economy”. Hard and soft border talk has become an inaccurate proxy of that undertaking. 4/8 ~AA
The “backstop” was explicitly conceived as an insurance precisely in case no trade deal could be reached. It is, in all its iterations, a British proposal, to accommodate the UK’s “red lines” of leaving both the Single Market and the Customs Union. 5/8 ~AA irishtimes.com/business/econo…
Issues arising from the conflict between Brexit and the GFA were not only predictable, but predicted, eg. Major/Blair on 9/6/2016: Brexit risks “destabilising the complicated constitutional settlement that underpins stability in Northern Ireland”. 6/8 ~AA bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politi…
These warnings were dismissed by Brexiters at the time. “Rather sad” (Arlene Foster), “highly irresponsible” (Theresa Villiers), “simply scaremongering” (Nigel Dodds), “a load of scare stories” (Nigel Farage), and “nothing to fear” (Boris Johnson). 7/8 ~AA
In short, the UK signed the Good Friday Agreements, the UK voted to leave the EU, the UK set its arbitrary red lines, the UK proposed the backstop, the UK negotiated and signed the Withdrawal Agreement. It’s not up to everyone else to solve our nationalist rubik’s cube. 8/8 ~AA
And with that, I say goodbye for another week. ~AA
• • •
Missing some Tweet in this thread? You can try to
force a refresh
🚨Up to 5 million Brits are unaware of the need for photo ID when voting!
Here's a thread with the FULL LIST of accepted ID to save and share. Remember yours tomorrow! 👇 1/10
🗳️Passport issued by the UK, any of the Channel Islands, the Isle of Man, a British Overseas Territory, an EEA state or a Commonwealth country (including an Irish Passport Card).
2/
🗳️Driving licence issued by the UK, any of the Channel Islands, the Isle of Man, or an EEA state (this includes a provisional driving licence).
3/
With my partner's blessing, I share our recent personal journey trying to access mental health help. My OH just started full time work again, after eighteen months off sick. At every point, the system was a set-back instead of help, it LENGTHENED and WORSENED his problem. 1/ ~AA
Around mid-2019, he started suffering from mild anxiety for a combination of reasons. He sleep was badly disrupted and he suffered from mild panic attacks. He sought help. His GP, after a 7-min consultation referred him to a specialist service. They never even got in touch. 2/
After several appointments and phone calls, he was re-referred. They did not get in touch. By this time his symptoms were worse, he started to self-medicate with alcohol to sleep, which made the symptoms worse still. He was referred to an alcohol unit. They never got in touch. 3/
THREAD🧵: With so many leadership changes and policy u-turns, it is hard to keep track of the promises on which the Conservatives were elected to gov't in 2019.
I have had a detailed look back at their 2019 manifesto. ~AA 1/
It's hard for voters to have a clear line of accountability, with weekly "rebrands", "resets", and "relaunches".
"The mandate my party earned in 2019 is not the sole property of one individual. The heart of that mandate is our manifesto," Sunak said on his first speech as PM. 2/
THE PLEDGE: "Debt will be lower at the end of the Parliament."
THE OUTCOME: Debt will, in fact, be higher by any measure and even excluding pandemic borrowing. /3
🚨🚨🚨BREAKING: Today we can reveal the Tories are set for electoral oblivion, with our latest mega-poll forecasting their worst EVER election result, winning fewer than 100 seats. 1/9 thetimes.co.uk/article/genera…
The ‘Conservative and Unionist Party’ are set to be completely wiped out in Wales and Scotland, reducing them to a party of England only. So much for the Union. 2/9
We have found that even the Prime Minister and Chancellor’s seats are now at risk, with both holding on by a margin of less than 2.5% of the vote. 3/9