Procedurally, the UK has three options: Ratify the Withdrawal Agreement (with possible accompanying changes to the Political Declaration on the future relationship with the EU) before 22 May, and cancel participation in the European Parliament elections Ratify the Withdrawal Agreement (with possible accompanying changes to the Political Declaration on the future relationship with the EU) before 30 June, and ensure that when the new European Parliament session opens on 2 July, there are no UK…

Lord, what fools these mortals be – Shakespeare, Midsummer Night’s Dream Last Friday should have been the day the UK left the EU.  Instead the Westminster Parliament, in a rare Friday sitting, rejected the Withdrawal Agreement component of the Prime Minister’s Brexit deal by a substantial majority. What has happened? Parliament has imposed “indicative votes” on possible Brexit outcomes on a reluctant Government, but then failed to produce a majority in favour of any outcome…

Summary Government strategy thrown into disarray by Speaker’s ruling that Parliament cannot vote on the May withdrawal deal again The threat of no deal Brexit on 29 March has been reduced, but not entirely removed The threat of no deal Brexit at some point in the future is still there, but remains small Brexit will almost certainly be delayed, at least until May / June, but more likely for longer Longer delay would be likely…

Where are we now? The UK’s progress towards leaving the European Union has been a tortuous and turbulent affair. It has been marked by Prime Minister Theresa May’s Government suffering repeated heavy defeats in Parliament, which would normally have led to a change of policy if not of Government, but carrying on with its Brexit stance unchanged. So you could be forgiven for assuming that a series of votes initiated by backbenchers at the end…

Over the period since the rejection of the Withdrawal Agreement, the Prime Minister’s tactic has been to try to bring the pro-Brexit wing of the Conservative Party, and the Northern Ireland Democratic Unionists, back on side.  No.10 appear to have been successful in whittling the pro-Brexit wing’s nominal resistance to the Withdrawal Agreement (which was very wide ranging at the time of the vote on 15th Jan) down to just the Northern Ireland backstop –…