Maria Ramirez is right, of course, Diego Garcia means nothing for Gibraltar.

But I will reiterate, what we are seeing is a very bad tactical decision - not for the first time - on the part of Gib and esp. the former Tory government coming back to bite them.

1 During the WA negotiations on Ireland and the chicanery that has gone on since, has been about "facts on the ground".

2

So, I listened to the Spectator's big Tory fringe event on Brexit.

A 🧵

(See, who says you don't need foreigners to do the jobs that Britons don't want to?). It has to be said, the panel didn't inspire confidence. Hannan is a veteran zealous Euroskeptic, Jacobs is part of the Europhobic industrial complex, while IDS is the worst kind of reactionary Tory.

2

@chrisgreybrexit opens his last paragraph of Friday's blog with a quite profound point. I don't think it's arrogant to say in 2016 I knew more than the vast majority of the population about Europe. Yet I've been surprised every day.

It's like staring at the Milky Way.

A 🧵 It is the simpliism of the media and politicians towards quitting, and indeed the simpliism of the electorate, who should have smelt a rat, that frustrates.

2

Let me tell you a story.

When the euro was just a wee slip of a currency, a global financial crisis happened. This had a traumatic effect on many small countries, in particular on Greece. There, a fiscal crisis reared its head

Government revenues were no longer adequate

A 🧵 This represented, frankly, an existential crisis for the euro, which was still untried as a reserve currency on the world stage; for Europe as a whole, as unity would almost certainly have fractured with the euro; and for Greece, it'd have been blown back to the 70s

2

The idea is out there and widespread that the UK electorate were somehow innocent babes in the woods when it came to the votes that shaped Britain's relationship with Europe, especially 2015-24.

I do not subscribe to that idea.

A 🧵 Voters were told that they held all the cards, that their economy would boom and Europe's would suffer, unless Europe gave the British voters what they wanted. That Audi and Mercedes would force Europe to concede.

2

The Economist has absolutely smashed it out of the park with this article. A classic Economist analysis piece, clipped style, but not being said elsewhere.

A 🧵 So, firstly we have the current situation: the UK is governed by a hard Brexit party.

It has good features, but on Europe it is further to the tight than the RN, Fd'I or even paries like the SVP in Switzerland.

That's just the reality, hard as it is to hear.

2

À lot of people who voted Labour convinced they were the party of #rejoinEU must be feeling mugged right now.

I have said from the start, the problem with #A49 for UKG is that they don't want a customs union.

They want to continue Brexit trade policy.

1 Keeping CPTPP means no substantial closer relations with the regional powerhouse.

(Think about that in the EES fingerprint queue.)

The plan, as ludicrous as it is to be saying this after so many years, is to replace European trade with Gulf autocracies.

2

More inaccurate reporting about Europe, here from the Independent, which is becoming a serial offender.

This presents dangers for UKG and the UK

Quick response in a 🧵

independent.co.uk/news/uk/politi…
Yes.

But the problem here isn't the "deal", per se, which is a decent FTA.

The problem is Brexit and leaving the SM.

No talking will fix that.

2

At the weekend I came into contract with a conspiracy theory. Or rather, it found me.

Let's come back to that. First some notes on citizenship in Europe.

A🧵in four chapters

This is the relevant provision that governs European citizenship. 𝐓𝐄𝐔 𝐖𝐨𝐧𝐠 𝐅𝐨𝐨, 𝐓𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐤𝐬 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐄𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐉𝐮𝐥𝐢𝐞 𝐍𝐞𝐰𝐦𝐚𝐫

Sometimes it's easier to see the French without the legalese in English.

The key verb is 𝑒𝑠𝑡 ("is")

2

Frustrating to see that so many falsehoods are circulating about Schengen and 90/180.

So, let's explain again what it is.

Schengen is where the European states agree to have the same visa waivers and to coordinate on visas and entry requirements.

A 🧵

Millau Viaduct The most obvious comparison is with a customs union, where countries agree to apply the same external tariff on goods coming onto their territories from outside the union.

2

Puente Nuevo

First thing to say is let's praise Starmer for the sentiment. It is correct and Ukraine could definitely have done without Brexit distracting and even hampering its defence.

What is the heart of Europe?

A 🧵 Obviously coopération does not mean you're at the heart of something. We cooperate very closely with Norway but nobody would suggest that Norway is at the heart of Europe.

So what else is driving this statement from Labour?

2

Fascinating @pmdfoster newsletter in @FT on some of the resistence that Labour will meet from the UK side if it tries to align with Europe.

Broadly, not everyone will be happy.

Short 🧵

H/t @Nicoledso In three areas at least - packaging, food and chemicals - companies may see an advantage to keeping the lower standards, and have absorbed the costs of divergence and returning may not simply be worth it.

1

Just getting to this article now, but very much exactly where the relationship is at and what is being said.

1

theguardian.com/politics/artic…
Europe will likely listen to what the UK has to say, and I would be very surprised if there are not some sort of talks opened before the end of the year.

2

Jannike Wachowiak with an article in @TheNewEuropean which expresses a lot of the worries that Europeans who want closer relations to GB have.

Some quick thoughts

1 The rejection of youth visas demonstrates a continued opposition to co-operation between peoples.

It also shows strategic naïveté; Labour need to start finding formulations that don't close off cooperation.

2

Recently I've seen a number of comments along the lines of:

"The problem is the UK is not culturally European".

That can be either a lament, or an argument for staying out of Europe.

This is important, as Europeaness is vital for a join movement.

A 🧵 The UK is not the first or only country to have had these debates about its Europeanness. Examples aboud, including Bulgaria, Norway, Turkey, and indeed Ireland.

This is Mary Harney (centre, with some familiar faces) former Tánaiste (deputy PM) or Ireland.

2

So, the Labour manifesto is out.

On relations withh Europe, much was well-flagged in advance, but nevertheless must represent a disappointment for British pro-Europeans.

1 Okay, so it is a rejection of the architecture of Europe.

But actually, it's worse. The language is quite Brexity.

Not just saying that quitting is a source of opportunity. But also avoiding talking about Bxl, preferring. And casting normal border procedures as unnecessary.

2

This is a really good tight tweet and short thread.

Those facts are correct: it happened. It was traumatic. It didn't go very well. It isn't easily changed.

Does that mean the reaction in WM and elsewhere is "correct" or even normative?

A 🧵

https://twitter.com/DavidHenigUK/status/1800865767606698123

Firstly, on this, Brexit has happened. And even if it is not settled on the UK side, esp. at the border, it is for Europe.

And it was traumatic, I think in a way is foreigners didn't appreciate. In some ways, for the UK, it was the end of the post-Cold War settlement.

2

In the past few days, I've read a number of people saying that you can work in Europe with a 90/180 visa waiver if you're from the UK. Particularly people refer to general employment, consultancy based in the UK, and concert crew.

Is that true? The confusion comes from people misunderstanding what's happened since Brexit. Britons are now restricted to 90 days in every 180 in Europe as a matter of course.

But that is a visa waiver for *visiting*. It implies no right to work.

2

So, exceptionalist Andrew is back with the Extrawurst manifesto as a reply.

I've stitched it together for you're reading pleasure.

Let's deal with these claims les uns après les autres 😉

A 🧵 No, the British people should not just accept things. But the time to say so was before the votes in 2016, 17 and esp. 19, when the electorate approved the current deal.

It's not our job to fix things for you now.

2

Really interesting discussion over the weekend about the UK electorate's responsibility for the loss of European citizenship rights via Brexit.

If we accept that the electorate is not responsible for Brexit* then can from who do you expect restoration of your citizenship?

1 If the UK electorate is not responsible, can we say that they don't need to change with regard to their attitude to Europe, to the community? That it was all someone else's fault?

2

Absorbing interview with @HeleneBismarck on @SnellArthur 's podcast.

She comes across as a very clear thinker, which makes for good listening.

A lot to get your teeth into. Summary of some points (and one slight disagreement)

🧵

https://twitter.com/SnellArthur/status/1788605759141404917

Ms Bismarck states she is seen in Germany as an Anglophone nostalgic. She is most definitely a friend of the UK.

On this (my thoughts, not hers) I do wish the Brexit and rejoin debates would take more time to talk to Europeans on the situation.

2