Category Archives: Brexit

EXPERTS have warned there is a battle against time to deal with rising tensions in Northern Ireland over the fallout from Brexit.

Protests over the post-Brexit protocol which keeps the country within the single market for goods and requires EU checks on British goods entering Northern Ireland have been on the increase.

The beginning of the campaign for the council elections has been marked by a bomb threat and smashing of windows of a constituency office.

Dale Pankhurst, teaching assistant and PhD candidate at Queens University Belfast, warned there is a battle against time to prevent the situation escalating.

The longer the problem persists, the more agitated sections of the population will become, thereby increasing the likelihood of violence returning to Northern Ireland, he said. There are a range of issues that cause grievance amongst the Unionist community.

READ MORE:Brexit protocols, 'sabotage and collusion': What is happening in Northern Ireland?

Many Unionists view the protocol as an assault on the fabric of the Union and a violation of the principle of consent within the Belfast Agreement. Many see the Protocol as a stepping stone to a united Ireland as it forces businesses to strengthen trading ties with the Republic of Ireland due to the difficulty to trade the Protocol brings between Northern Ireland-Great Britain trade.

Last week Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) leader Doug Beattie linked an attack on his constituency office in which a window was smashed to his announcement he would no longer attend protests over the protocol.

He added: Somebody can smash my window but I can fix it, but the first time that someone gets injured, the first time that someone gets killed, there is no going back on that.

We are in a spiral of violence that I do not want to get us into. This is nothing to do with the election, this purely to do with protests around the protocol, which I do not think we should get involved in to raise tensions.

Beattie also linked the increasing political volatility to an upsurge in paramilitary activity, including a bomb hoax at an event attended by Irish Foreign Affairs Minister Simon Coveney in north Belfast. That incident, in which a van driver was hijacked at gunpoint, has been blamed on the Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF).

READ MORE:DUP threats over Brexit 'may see Northern Irish devolution collapse forever'

Prominent politicians from other Unionist parties, including DUP leader Sir Jeffrey Donaldson and TUV leader Jim Allister, have addressed recent protocol rallies, and defended them as peaceful protests.

Brexit has led to anger on both sides of the political divide in Northern Ireland.

Pankhurst said: When there was a prospect of a hard, physical border returning along the Irish Border, nationalist politicians highlighted this would motivate resistance, both violent and non-violent, against border installations. Likewise with the onset of the Northern Ireland Protocol, Unionist politicians have highlighted that armed loyalist resistance may also materialise.

Last week Secretary of State for Northern Ireland Brandon Lewis (above) said the protocol is not sustainable in its current format, saying 200 businesses in Great Britain are not trading with Northern Ireland due to the post-Brexit trade arrangements. Talks between the UK and the EU over the protocol have not yielded a deal.

Pankhurst called for both sides to become more aware of how precarious the situation is now becoming in Northern Ireland and to move quickly towards a resolution.

He said: The longer this sore festers, the more intractable the likelihood of reaching a settlement becomes due to increasing entrenchment and polarisation.

This problem will not be resolved simply through placing a physical border here or there.

The UKs withdrawal from the European Union is the first time the bloc has faced this scenario.

The border lines between the UK and the EU now lie along the fault lines of one of the worlds most intractable ethnic conflicts. Both sides must realise the seriousness of this fact.

Speaking at a conference last week on the UK constitution, organised by thinktank UK in a Changing Europe, Katy Hayward, professor of politics at Queens University in Belfast, said: Unionism is in a difficult place and I think the British Government need to think seriously about how it is handling all of this.

The Stormont powersharing executive collapsed earlier this year when the DUP withdrew Paul Givan as First Minister in protest at the Northern Ireland Protocol.

Hayward said the Assembly had performed remarkably well just before it broke up, introducing progressive legislation such as paid leave for victims of domestic violence.

She added: We are coming into a huge cost of living crisis, Northern Irelands standard of living is below the rest of the UK and yet this election could well be dominated by the issues of the protocol.

View original post here:

Brexit protocol creating a 'spiral of violence' in Northern Ireland - The National

For the last two years our focus may have been on Covid and now Ukraine but our relationship with the European Union continues to be of importance. The signs are that the Conservatives want to make Brexit a major issue again by the time of the next general election.

This, in large part, reflects the fact the Conservative Party has little else to say. The coalition that voted Tory in 2019 had more in common on cultural issues than on economics. Every fiscal event exposes the lack of cohesion in the Conservatives economic thinking. In a low-growth economy, it will be impossible to achieve falling borrowing, low taxes and the promised additional funding for public services, as Rishi Sunak is discovering.

On boosting economic productivity, the Chancellor is asking some of the right questions and has a three-word slogan Capital, People, Innovation but has only got to the stage of asking businesses what he should do. It is hard to see how this will translate into anything that will make a tangible difference by 2024.

There is no obvious agenda on public service reform. Boris Johnsons big idea this week was that if pupils fall behind in English and maths schools should intervene and help get them back on track.Perfectly sensible but not exactly breaking new ground.

To be fair to the government, it has been consumed by two crises the pandemic and the invasion of Ukraine but this does not mean it will get a free pass for lacking a record of achievement or exciting new ideas. Its best bet may be to play a variation on an old tune: Keep Brexit Done.

We saw signs of this in the Prime Ministers speech to the Conservative Party spring conference when he claimed that the Brexit vote was an example of the freedom-loving nature of the British people, who shared this characteristic with the Ukrainians resisting the Russian invasion. For those of us Johnson-sceptics who thought that his handling of the Ukraine conflict had been broadly adequate, it came as a reminder that he does not have what it takes to be a war leader that can unite the nation.

This particular speech was so egregiously crass that even many Brexit-supporting commentators condemned it but there is evidence that it is part of a strategy. The Times recently reported that David Canzini, the Prime Ministers new deputy chief of staff, told No 10 staffers that the number one priority was delivering on the promises of Brexit. Keeping the Leave/Remain divide alive appears to be the plan.

One obvious problem with the strategy is that Brexit, as an economic project, is evidently not going well. In its Spring Statement assessment, the Office for Budget Responsibility confirmed its previous assessment that Brexit has cost us 4 per cent of GDP (twice the long-term hit of Covid) with none of the supposed benefits resulting in any material economic contribution. The economic damage has been caused by a decline in trade with the EU, which Sunak was forced to admit was unsurprising when you change a trading relationship with the EU and that a change in our relationship will obviously have an impact. Unsurprising to those who thought Brexit would be costly would be more accurate. Sunak also maintained that the UK was not becoming a less open economy which, given the trade numbers, is obviously nonsense.We have not even implemented import checks yet and may have to delay them further.

The Prime Ministers solution to falling trade, by the way, is characteristically vague, boosterist and ignorant. There is no natural impediment to our exports, it is just will and energy and ambition, he told the Liaison Committee.

The mounting evidence of the economic damage caused by Brexit ought to be a worrying vulnerability for the government, with Labour pushing the line that the reason taxes are having to go up is because economic growth is so weak. It is a very good point.

Pointing out that growth is low is one thing but setting out a convincing explanation that growth would be higher with a change of government is another. There is, of course, an oven-ready solution to low growth, which would be to repair our economic relationship with the EU. Some of the 4 per cent hit to GDP caused by us leaving the single market and customs union could be recovered if we were to move closer to these institutions.

Labour, however, is reluctant to reopen the issue for much the same reason that the Conservatives are keen to talk about Brexit. Both parties assume that if our relationship with the EU is a prominent issue at the next general election, this will favour the Conservatives.

It is a curious state of affairs. The government wants to boast about a policy that is damaging growth; the opposition is keen to show that we are growing slowly but is frightened to explain why. Both parties are being evasive.

We are starting to see a debate about how we restore strong economic growth but both main parties want to discuss anything but the inadequacy of our trading relationship with the EU. This does the country no favours. If we want a stronger economy, this has to be addressed.

Sign up for The New Statesmans newsletters Tick the boxes of the newsletters you would like to receive. Morning Call Quick and essential guide to domestic and global politics from the New Statesman's politics team. World Review The New Statesmans global affairs newsletter, every Monday and Friday. The New Statesman Daily The best of the New Statesman, delivered to your inbox every weekday morning. Green Times The New Statesmans weekly environment email on the politics, business and culture of the climate and nature crises - in your inbox every Thursday. This Week in Business A handy, three-minute glance at the week ahead in companies, markets, regulation and investment, landing in your inbox every Monday morning. The Culture Edit Our weekly culture newsletter from books and art to pop culture and memes sent every Friday. Weekly Highlights A weekly round-up of some of the best articles featured in the most recent issue of the New Statesman, sent each Saturday. Ideas and Letters A newsletter showcasing the finest writing from the ideas section and the NS archive, covering political ideas, philosophy, criticism and intellectual history - sent every Wednesday. Events and Offers Sign up to receive information regarding NS events, subscription offers & product updates.

See the rest here:

Brexit has been disastrous but neither Labour nor the Tories want an honest debate - The New Statesman

The forecast by economist Julian Jessop follows two years of damage to the global economy during the Covid pandemic. The expected growth comes in part as nations recover from the fall caused by various factors, as supply once again begins to meet demands.

Sharing new data on Twitter, Mr Jessop wrote: After a bigger fall in 2020 and initially a weaker recovery (due to Brexit), the UK caught up with the Eurozone in the last quarter of 2021.

I expect the UK to pull ahead in 2022.

The self-declared Brexit optimist went on to compare the UK with other EU nations.

He added: Comparing GDP in Q4 2021 with the pre-Covid level (Q4 201), France is still ahead, chapeau!

But on this basis at least, the UK has done better than Italy, Germany and Spain.

Mr Jessop also went on to explain the Consumer Price Index (CPI) in France was much higher than expected.

The increase in CPI was a surprise after state intervention in the energy market.

Figures released by the Office of National Statistics (ONS) also show promise.

It says: UK gross domestic product (GDP) is estimated to have increased by 1.3 percent in Quarter 4 (Oct to Dec) 2021, upwardly revised from the first quarterly estimate of a 1.0 percent increase.

The level of GDP is now 0.1 percent below where it was pre-coronavirus (COVID-19) at Quarter 4 2019, revised from the previous estimate of 0.4 percent below.

Annual GDP in 2021 is now estimated to have increased by a revised 7.4 percent (previously 7.5 percent), following a revised 9.3 percent decline in 2020 (previously 9.4 percent fall).

READ MORE:'Radical Brexit opportunities key to solving cost of living crisis

With household costs set to rise as energy prices surge, some economists are predicting slower growth.

Paul Dales, chief UK economist at consultancy Capital Economics, said the spending revision suggested the squeeze on real incomes was starting to bite, although the decrease in the saving rate was providing a cushion.

Speaking to The Guardian, he said: The 0.1 percent quarter-on-quarter fall in real household disposable incomes was smaller than we had expected.

But it was the third decline in as many quarters and the big increases in prices that lie ahead means further falls are on their way.

DON'T MISS:Putin on the backfoot after guerilla attacks[REPORT]Fury over hated deal as Boris accused of 'broken promises'[EXCLUSIVE]Putin humiliated as 300 troops 'hitchhike home'[REVEAL]

Samuel Tombs, chief UK economist at Pantheon Macroeconomics, another consultancy, highlighted output excluding Government spending remained 2.9 percent short of the pre-pandemic high.

Mr Tombs said: Exports were a hefty 15.7 percent below their 2019 fourth-quarter level the worst performance in the G7, by some distance greatly exceeding the 6.4 percent shortfall in imports.

Exports have consistently underperformed relative to other advanced economies since the first quarter of 2021, suggesting Brexit is largely to blame.

Does this spell good news for post-Brexit Britain? Can the UK compete with the Eurozone in the long-term? Will the cost-of-living crisis dampen this good news? Let us know what you think about Britain's post-Brexit economy by CLICKING HERE and joining the debate in our comments section below - Every Voice Matters!

The latest figures from the ONS for 2022 show the UK maintains growth nonetheless.

It said: UK gross domestic product (GDP) is estimated to have grown by 0.8 percent in January 2022, and is now 0.8 percent above its pre-coronavirus (COVID-19) level.

Even more promising was the broad range of the British economy contributing to the growth.

The ONS ended: All sectors contributed positively to GDP growth in January 2022.

Services were the main driver contributing 0.6 percentage points, with production and construction both contributing 0.1 percentage points.

Here is the original post:

'Brexit Britain will pull ahead' Economist forecasts UK GDP will overtake Eurozone in 2022 - Express

The Chancellor has asked lawyers from Hogan Lovells to advise him on reforms in the financial sector. He is eager to scrap red tape that prevents more businesses around the world from doing trade in London.

It is understood that among the areas being looked at is the so-called "overseas person exclusion".

It allows UK firms to use the services of overseas companies and visa versa without the need for authorisation by the Financial Conduct Authority.

However, businesses have asked the Treasury to look at the details of the rules, accusing them of being overly complicated according to The Telegraph.

Ministers have vowed to make slashing EU regulation a priority.

READ MORE ON OUR BREXIT LIVE BLOG

They believe freeing firms from the burden of paperwork will help boost Britain's economy and attract businesses from around the world.

The Government believes EU rules have for years held back the City, while europhiles claim the UK's exit from the bloc will lead to the demise of Britain's place as a financial trading hub.

Last week a global financial centres index published by think tank Z/Yen Group found London remained Europe's dominant financial centre.

It came second only to New York out of the worlds top 126 finance hubs.

Mr Sunak, who voted to leave the EU in 2016, has set his sights on post-Brexit finance reform to rival Margaret Thatcher's record.

In 1986, Ms Thatcher introduced the sudden deregulation of the London stock exchange, known as the "Big Bang".

DON'T MISS:Thank goodness we left! IDS ruthlessly rips apart EU failings[REACTION]'Radical Brexit opportunities key to solving cost of living crisis[INSIGHT]Economist forecasts UK GDP will overtake Eurozone in 2022[UPDATE]

It accelerated London's position as an international financial centre and led to a boom in growth.

The Chancellor wants to be responsible for what he has referred to before as "Big Bang 2.0" as he changes Brexit rules.

"I think we always should be looking forward and figuring out what can we do differently? How can we turn things into opportunities?," he said in an interview last year.

He said he wants to make the UK "the most dynamic place to do financial services anywhere in the world".

The Chancellor added: Regulation is important, of course, as is timezone, as is language.

"All of those things are important.

But what is probably more important is the culture and creativity of our people.

"And no document can take that away from us. I feel very confident, and very excited, about the future of the City of London and financial services in general."

See the original post here:

Rishi Sunak plots bonfire of red tape as he assembles top team for Brexit finance boost - Express

As gas and electricity prices rises this month by 54%, the Tories refuse to take control of the energy crisis, argues Martin Hall

Throughout the period 2016-2019, Tory ministers repeatedly told us that bills would be slashed once the UK left the EU.

The 5% VAT rate on energy would be removed and families would find themselves with more money in their pockets. This would benefit those with the least the most.

Fast-forward to 2022, and the Ofgem price cap has risen to 1971, up an eye watering 693.

But heres the thing: it is easier to control prices outside of the EUs Internal Energy Market (IME), which is effectively a sub-set of the Single Market.

Why? Because it was set up to liberalise the energy market, increase competition and reduce monopolies. It is another EU measure that opens up public services to the market. Suppliers are free to determine the price of their product.

Of course, state aid is allowed in times of crisis. Indeed, the European Commission recommended member states adopt tax cuts and state aid last year. Some countries in the bloc have cut energy taxes and halved the sales tax on household energy.

And publicly owned companies can and do take part in the IME. EDF, which is 80% publicly owned, provide around two-thirds of the energy in France. And in France, EDF has been forced to take the hit, with a consequent price rise of only 4%.

The principal issue in the short term is political will, not whether or not a country is in the EU. The Tories could cap prices, introduce a windfall tax and remove VAT on bills. But in or out of the EU, they wont.

Does this mean EU membership is not a factor in this conversation, then? No, it doesnt. Outside of the EU, much more radical measures could be brought in.

Energy could be nationalised and not run for profit, as could oil companies. And lets be clear what we mean by nationalisation: state-ownership of the production, supply, transmission and distribution of all energy, not a market in which public companies can bid along with private.

This would include taking control of the inappropriately named National Grid, which is fully privatised and has paid out 1.4billion to shareholders in the last year.

It would mean taking control of Shell and BP, who posted profit forecasts of almost40 billionfor 2021/2022. Neither company has paid a penny in tax on North Sea oil and gas drilling in the last 3 years.

In the meantime, a windfall tax would be a start. The Tories are saying that cant happen because the companies wont have the funds to transition to low-carbon energy. But Shell and BP have given 147bn to shareholders in the form of dividends and share buybacks over the past ten years.

We need capital to shoulder the burden, not labour. Those dividends could have paid out to the workers in the form of higher wages. They could have subsidised the price of gas and oil and kept prices down.

Of course, the Tories vision of Brexit wasnt based on any of this. Taking these steps would require a radical rupture from the failed politics of the last 40 years.

The Tory vision of Brexit was about freeing up capital further and creating a new, global Britain like an Empire tribute act.

But voters, in particular those in the so-called Red Wall, were expecting to see record investment and improvement in living standards.

They were expecting new jobs, new opportunities and for government to provide a leg-up, especially in times of crisis.

They werent expecting to have to choose between putting the heating on and eating.

Counterfire is expanding fastas a website and an organisation. We are trying to organise a dynamic extra-parliamentary left in everypart of the country tohelp build resistance to the government and their billionaire backers. If you like what you have read and youwant to help, please join us or just get in touch by emailing [emailprotected] Now is the time!

Read more:

Whatever happened to taking back control? Brexit and the cost of living crisis - Counterfire

MORE than a year after the UK fully withdrew from the EU, an Edinburgh business owner has revealed he still spends countless hours on admin just trying to get items to and fromEurope.

David Gardiner, who runs Laid Back Bikes, slammedBrexitas a waste of time as he detailed the myriad ways it has negatively affected his trade with the EU.

The business imports premium bike partsfrom the European Union, builds them and sells them in the UK but Gardiner said it's getting tougher to get cost-effective items on time without hassle.

The finished bicycle can cost as much as 7000 and the business employs Gardiner and his wife and business partner Irene, with other crew employed on an ad hoc basis.

READ MORE:Barrhead business loses out on 50k in EU funding due to Brexit

The Scottish businessmanbemoaned the mountain of paperwork and red tape caused by the 2016 vote to leave the EU.

He said the increased burdens on businesses, that are disproportionately impacting small firms, means he is spending a lot of his time chasing up missing orders and filling out paperwork that wasnt needed prior to Brexit.

Instead of selling bikes, Gardiner has had to dedicate more time to chasing up lost items while spending more money on transport costs, waiting longer for those items to arrive and struggling to track them on their way.

While many firms still want to do business with Gardiner, Laid Back Bikes have been forced to absorb the extra costs of doing business in a post-Brexit Britain.

And hes not the first business to speak out about this. The National has spoken to a number of businesses that share similar concerns. Many Scottish businesses now face increased costs, delays and a big drop in revenue because of Brexit.

David Gardiner said Brexit has made it harder for him to do business with the EU

Gardiner told The National: I've had to deal with the European mainland for years. And before getting a parcel from Amsterdam was just the same as getting the parcel from Cambridge - there was no difference, no more paperwork, and delivery times were reliable.

Now, we don't know where parcels are. We spend a lot of time trying to track stuff down which just wastes our time.

The whole thing is a gigantic waste of time on admin when in fact what we should be doing is addressing our core reason for being which is selling bikes and not worried about the actual admin of getting stuff through customs.

Every day, I've got 50 invoices from a logistics company which all have to be accounted for in their fee agent account package.

Despite using modern technology that used to make the admin part easy, now Gardiner says invoices are all done separately which means extra time devoted to just processing items.

Laid Back Bikes gets parts from the EU but Brexit means those items can often get lost or take much longer than usual to arrive

Gardiner said a hefty chunk of his Vat forms are dedicated to Northern Ireland, which still effectivelyoperates inside the EUs single market.

He said Scotland could have been accommodated for in the way Northern Ireland was, saying if its possible for one nation in the UK it should be possible for another.

READ MORE:Scottish Highland shop owner screwed by Brexit as cost of business goes up

He said: Id like Scotland to be in the single market. I mean, Im looking at my Vat return and it makes you laugh. There are eight boxes to fill in and there of them are specially adapted for Northern Ireland. Scotland could quite easily have been accommodated."

He continued: It would have been so much better if Scotland actually got what it voted for because Scotland's more reliant on trade with Europe.

It doesnt make any sense. Its a completely stupid decision.

If your business has been affected by the UK leaving the EU we would like to hear from you! Get in touch atbit.ly/scotnatbrexitor email craig.meighan@Newsquest.co.uk

Follow this link:

Laid Back Bikes: Edinburgh business's nightmare after Brexit 'waste of time' - The National

31 March 2022, 12:14 | Updated: 31 March 2022, 18:17

The British production of the Andrew Lloyd Webber musical is too complicated and expensive to bring to Europe due to the impact of Brexit.

A Chinese production of the Andrew Lloyd Webber musical, Phantom of the Opera, is being brought on tour to Europe, as Brexit red tape has made it too expensive to bring over a British one.

Phantom of the Opera opened in Londons West End in 1986 and became an international sensation, winning an Olivier Award the same year, and the 1988 Tony Award for Best Musical.

The musical has been translated into multiple languages and produced in over 28 countries on six continents, including China.

In a Commons Culture Committee session on promoting Britain abroad earlier this week, Jessica Koravos, President of the Really Useful Group, which promotes the shows of Andrew Lloyd Webber around the world, revealed that bringing a Chinese production of the 1986 musical to Europe was more straightforward and less expensive.

Read more: Busker shocked as real-life West End Christine joins him for stunning Phantom of the Opera duet

Koravos explained, Under the current circumstances, I would not dream of sending a UK production into Europe.

The revelation comes after the former Brexit minister admitted the deal he helped negotiate has negatively impacted touring musicians earlier this month.

Lord David Frost, the former Chief Negotiator of Task Force Europe, said the Brexit deal he helped negotiate presents a whole set of problems for touring musicians and their crew.

He admitted, [the government] should take another look at mobility issues.

In Tuesdays Commons Culture Committee Koravos spotlighted the impact touring regulations have had on theatre.

Koravos explained that the main issue with bringing a British production over to Europe, was that while they could get permission for the Chinese production to perform in the Schengen Area (26 countries), the British one would involve a series of multiple applications to each country within the area.

Read more: Brexit trade deal failed touring musicians, admits former chief negotiator

In response to Koravos revelations, the chair of the culture committee, Julian Knight MP, commented: That one of the all-time great British musical impresarios would not now dream of taking a production rich in West End heritage into the EU from Britain speaks volumes about the impact of the governments approach to supporting touring creatives.

If it wasnt obvious before, the revelation that it is both cheaper and easier for a Chinese production of the Phantom of the Opera to be staged in the EU than it is for a British one, means that the mask has well and truly slipped on the true extent of the problems faced by the UK arts sector.

The current EU visa arrangements are proving economically disastrous for our cultural industries by forcing them to play second fiddle to their international competitors, while having a hugely detrimental effect on the ability of the UK to exercise soft power by promoting Britain abroad post-Brexit.

Continued here:

Phantom of the Opera to tour Europe with Chinese production due to Brexit red tape - Classic FM

For many in the UK, the outstanding current example is of course the Prime Minister, still refusing to admit that the law was broken on his watch, at No 10, on multiple occasions during the lockdowns of 2020 and 2021; despite the fact that the police finally doing to Boris Johnsons inner circle what they would have done to the rest of us on the spot, months or years ago have issued at least 20 notices of fines to people who attended parties there.

At the time, and particularly in the first lockdown of 2020, the same Prime Minister was warning the rest of us that we had to stay at home, work from home, educate our children at home, and only go out once a day for some brief exercise.

Sign up to our Opinion newsletter

Sign up to our Opinion newsletter

We could meet one other person from a different household, provided we only exercised outdoors together, and did not stop to socialise; and of course, people everywhere were forbidden to visit elderly relatives in care or those in hospital, who were suffering alone, dying alone, and often being mourned by people who were alone. For most of us at that time, parties of any sort were simply unthinkable.

Yet this is an experience a very real one, etched on millions of memories that Boris Johnson and those who continue to support him are now trying to efface, with their blithe talk of just a few parties, and their inaccurate claims that everyone broke the rules no, we did not and that when it came to Covid, Boris Johnson got all the big decisions right; when in fact from locking down too late in 2020, to squandering billions on unusable equipment, to presiding over the highest death toll in western Europe the Johnson government got many of those big decisions tragically wrong.

Lying in politics is nothing new, of course; fooling most of the people most of the time has always been the name of the game, for some politicians.

No-one denies, though, that the lying and gaslighting the imposition of narratives that directly contradict peoples lived experience has taken on a new intensity in the age of mass electronic communications and the internet.

For years, in the decade between 2010 and 2020, western thinkers and pundits were preoccupied with the narrative-shifting techniques allegedly developed by Vladimir Putin and his close advisor Vladislav Surkov, and the impact they might be having on western politics for example during Britains EU referendum, and during the Trump presidency; a concern which, in western minds, slightly overshadowed the almost unchallenged power of the present Russian regime to impose fabricated narratives on its own people, a clear 70 per cent of whom, according to polls, now fully accept the official account of Russia trying to save Ukraine from a government of Nazi drug addicts, cynically bombing its own people.

And the question that remains for all of us, in this age of lying liars in power, is what weapons we have against their false narratives. To begin with, it seems to me that we as voters and citizens have to become expert at not tarring all politicians with the same brush.

The politician does not exist, after all, who has never told a lie; indeed to present yourself in a positive light to the electorate, as a democratic politician must, is almost inevitably to gloss over sins and errors, and to exaggerate achievements.

There is a difference, though, between politicians who tell half-truths to burnish their political record, and politicians who commit themselves wholesale to a grand narrative which they know to be false; a difference between the everyday evasions of political debate, and the chill of having your known reality completely contradicted and denied, whether over Covid in the UK, or war in Ukraine, or the threat of climate change.

And in making these distinctions, citizens will also need the help of a new generation of journalists, less wedded to the now dysfunctional idea of impartiality between competing political actors, and instead dedicated to establishing facts and exposing the truth, wherever they may find it.

Its also vital, I think, that we learn to call out the idea, very popular in some elite circles, that reality now barely exists, and can always be batted away by a new narrative line.

Concepts to do with human rights and freedoms, with the rule of law and good governance, may have first been codified in the context of a deeply flawed and imperialistic western civilisation.

The ideas themselves, though, have a fundamental strength and validity that transcends that history; and wherever people are subjected to unbearable suffering because of the actions of others Ukraine, Yemen, Afghanistan, or among the most vulnerable in supposedly wealthy countries those values resurface in the ancient cry for justice, for compassion, for human dignity and freedom, and for the accountability of those in power.

So try telling a woman whose toddler is starving to death in the ruins of Mariupol, or who is struggling to protect her Pacific island home from ever-rising seawater, or who is sitting in a cold house somewhere in Britain looking at a power bill she can never pay, that reality no longer exists, and can no longer bite.

As Robert Burns wrote, long ago, facts are chiels that winna ding. And sooner or later unless we commit ourselves once more to a politics broadly based on truth, and face up, together, to the facts as we know them, and the response they demand reality will come for us all; in a way that no narrative can disguise, and from which no virtual alternative can protect us, any more.

A message from the Editor:

Thank you for reading this article. We're more reliant on your support than ever as the shift in consumer habits brought about by coronavirus impacts our advertisers.

Read the rest here:

Boris Johnson's lies over Brexit, Partygate and the rest are on collision course with hard reality Joyce McMillan - The Scotsman

The DUP will not return to a powersharing executive at Stormont until the Government acts to restore Northern Irelands status within the UK internal market, Jeffrey Donaldson has insisted.

he party leader said he was a committed devolutionist and claimed direct rule from Westminster would result in bad decisions for the region, but he said Stormont could only work if it was built on solid foundations.

He made clear that changes to Brexits contentious Northern Ireland Protocol, which has created trade barriers on goods shipped to the region from Great Britain, had to be delivered before he would consider returning to a fully functioning executive.

Addressing a party election event at a cinema in Dundonald in east Belfast, Mr Donaldson told colleagues: The protocol must be replaced with arrangements that protect Northern Irelands place within the United Kingdom.

The DUP collapsed the executive in February when its first minister Paul Givan resigned in protest at the protocol.

The move automatically ousted Sinn Fein deputy First Minister Michelle ONeill from her job and removed the administrations ability to meet or make significant decisions.

Powersharing rules mean a properly functioning administration can only be formed if the largest unionist and largest nationalist parties agree to enter the joint office of the first and deputy first ministers.

While polls indicate that the DUP is on course to be returned as the largest unionist party at Mays Assembly election, it is at risk of losing its status as the biggest overall party to Sinn Fein.

Aside from the protocol, Sir Jeffrey has repeatedly refused to confirm whether the DUP would take the post of deputy first minister alongside a Sinn Fein first minister.

He did so again on Monday, though he did add that he was a democrat and would respect the election result.

The Lagan Valley MP also declined to definitively confirm whether he would remain an MLA if he is elected in May.

There has been mounting speculation that Mr Donaldson may decide to co-opt a colleague into his Assembly seat and remain as an MP until such time as the DUP is prepared to restore the executive.

Mr Donaldson said the replacement of the protocol must be achieved either by way of a negotiated agreement with the EU or by the UK Government acting unilaterally.

He said that the New Decade, New Approach agreement that restored powersharing in Belfast in 2020 contained a pledge from the Government to legislate to protect Northern Irelands place within the UK market.

The UK Government has not delivered on that commitment, he said.

Until they do, I will not be going back into an executive that is required to implement a protocol that harms Northern Ireland every day.

The DUP booked a cinema screen in Dundonald on Monday to showcase a party film on its Five Point Plan for the election campaign.

The plan seeks to fix the national health service; grow the economy; help working families; remove the Irish Sea border; and keep Northern Irelands schools world class.

Mr Donaldson told fellow election candidates that a Sinn Fin victory in the election would lead to intensified calls for a divisive border poll on Northern Irelands constitutional status.

Asked again whether his party would serve as deputy first minister alongside a Sinn Fin first minister, he said: I have yet to meet the political leader, football manager or business owner who sets out his or her stall on the basis of what happens if theyre defeated, or if they lose or if theyre not successful, and thats not the business Im in.

I am a democrat, I will accept the outcome of the election. But I dont want the outcome of this election to be a Sinn Fein victory leading to a divisive border poll and endless years of bickering and squabbling in Northern Ireland.

Pressed on whether he would remain an MLA if elected, he said: The reason that I am putting my name forward for election in Lagan Valley is because I want to return to Stormont and I want to lead the DUP Assembly team in Stormont.

He added: I am very clear, until these issues are resolved, then I cant see that theres a basis for forming an executive that is required to implement the protocol.

So, Im committed to devolution, Im committed to the Northern Ireland Assembly, Im committed to seeing Stormont deliver for everyone in Northern Ireland. Thats why Im standing as a candidate in this election to lead our team forward and to win the election.

He insisted that devolution was the best form of governance for the region.

Devolved government in Belfast gives unionists and nationalists a real say in many of the issues that affect our everyday lives, he said.

I want to see all of our political institutions up and running and working to deliver for the people of Northern Ireland.

Our system of government is far from perfect, and needs further reform, but I believe in devolution.

Its good for unionism and its good for Northern Ireland.

I dont need to tell you that many of the decisions that we have objected to most over the last ten years have not been taken at Stormont but at Westminster.

Anyone who believes that having no say in our future is a recipe for success simply hasnt learnt the lessons of history.

But we must build our political institutions on solid foundations.

The protocol has harmed Northern Ireland and it does not enjoy unionist support.

Pretending problems dont exist is not a solution.

Read this article:

DUP will not return to Northern Ireland executive without changes to Brexit protocol, Jeffrey Donaldson vows - Independent.ie

The "Impact of Brexit on Retail - Thematic Research" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering.

This report provides a comprehensive overview of the retail, consumer and regulatory trends post-Brexit along with a discussion on changes in the retail industry. The report goes on to discuss trade agreements made in response to Brexit as well as the impact on the retail value chain and players.

Brexit has significantly impacted consumers and retailers operating in the UK and the EU in a myriad of ways, including trade tariffs, movement of goods, changes in the labor market, and general repercussions relating to consumer attitudes and buying behavior across the region.

Companies Mentioned

Scope

Reasons to Buy

Key Topics Covered:

For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/gxqyfy

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20220404005484/en/

See the article here:

2021 Thematic Research into the Impact of Brexit on Retail - ResearchAndMarkets.com - Benzinga - Benzinga