Saturday 29 April 2017

The "Did you notice that thing they did in Brussels today" election - day 12


Where's Mrs ME?

Somewhere with no mobile signal in Aberdeenshire is all we can say.




Making that same speech - every vote for ME and MY team is a vote for strong and stable verbiage. When I took over,  people said the country was divided, but I see a new unity of purpose [oh really].  Other parties are lining up to back Jeremy Corbyn [they really aren't] to block Brexit [but Corbyn's only interested in what happens after Brexit].

The next stops in Theresa ME's tour of the country (because, after all, all she really wants to do is knock on doors (and run away if she thinks somebody's coming)) are said to be...







Saboteurs department

Jeremy Corbyn was in London (I know, but it's a big place) making a more personal speech (a personal speech, Mrs ME, is one from which we might learn something about the speaker, not one in which 30% of the words are first person pronouns).  I could summarise or satirise it, but it's a rare thing, so you might want to read it as it was written.  Don't expect it again (very often).

Tim Farron was in Leeds, setting himself up in opposition to the government.  None of that "Go back to your constituencies and prepare for government" stuff, Little Timmy is preparing his troops to do well and come Not First - "You can differ with me on some things but you must agree we need an opposition" and Jeremy Corbyn leads the least effective opposition in history (not interplanetary history this time;  perhaps the Leeds Whovians weren't out of bed yet).

We have to include UKIP in the Saboteurs because they are definitely in opposition to Mrs ME.  News from Kipperland is that Paul Nuttall travelled to Hartlepool to announce that he would be standing for election on 8 June... in Boston.



No, not that one, Boston and Skegness, Lincolnshire, a mere 170 miles down the road and currently the domain of Matt Warman (Conservative, majority 4,336).  Mr Warman is an interesting Tory, having followed the development of various parts of the tech industry as a journalist, and being a Remainer in the country's top Leave area.



Meanwhile, in Brussels




Negotiations were the thing today, and the EU27 council (you know, the heads of government of the other countries in this club Mrs ME is leading us out of, strongly and stably) took somewhere between one minute (BBC) and fifteen minutes (BBC) to agree the document they've been preparing for nine months, and particularly during the few weeks since Mrs May's Article 50 letter dropped through the corporate letter box.

This is the negotiating mandate, the starting position and rules of negotiation for Michel Barnier, who was appointed as the EU27's lead negotiator two weeks after Mrs ME stood in the middle of Downing St and told us she would fight for those who are Just About Managing.  The document shouldn't surprise anybody, having been developed in public over the last few days and other meetings during April.

The Today programme was surprised.

The top three priorities in the Brexit negotiations, say our "friends and partners", should be:

1.  The status of EU expats in the UK and UK expats in the rest of the EU

"Agreeing reciprocal guarantees to safeguard the status and rights derived from EU law at the date of withdrawal of EU and UK citizens, and their families, affected by the United Kingdom's withdrawal from the Union will be the first priority for the negotiations.

"Such guarantees must be effective, enforceable, non-discriminatory and comprehensive, including the right to acquire permanent residence after a continuous period of five years of legal residence. Citizens should be able to exercise their rights through smooth and simple administrative."

2.  The "divorce bill" settling assets and liabilities the UK have got into [watch this space; this will be fun]

"A single financial settlement - including issues resulting from the MFF as well as those related to the European Investment Bank (EIB), the European Development Fund (EDF) and the European Central Bank (ECB) - should ensure that the Union and the United Kingdom both respect the obligations resulting from the whole period of the UK membership in the Union. The settlement should cover all commitments as well as liabilities, including contingent liabilities."

3.  The position of Northern Ireland

The Union has consistently supported the goal of peace and reconciliation enshrined in the Good Friday Agreement in all its parts [this is the bit that set unionists and their friends in the press panicking about Ireland and Republicans grabbing Ulster], and continuing to support and protect the achievements, benefits and commitments of the Peace Process will remain of paramount importance.

In view of the unique circumstances on the island of Ireland, flexible and imaginative solutions will be required, including with the aim of avoiding a hard border, while respecting the integrity of the Union legal order. 
 
In this context, the Union should also recognise existing bilateral agreements and arrangements between the United Kingdom and Ireland which are compatible with EU law.


Is there actually anything here which a British government could object to?  Apart from the sum of money which might come up under No 2, and the fact that "sufficient progress has [to be] achieved to allow negotiations to proceed to the next phase"?

There's more to the document, but the Telegraph has already presented it, with annotation, so you can read it there.


Remember...
 

at

UK (mostly) Bluesky starter packs

The person who assembled the list - the internal Bluesky name of the starter pack - the link andywestwood.bsky.social - go.bsky.app/6jFi56t ...