Well friends, the Negotiations leading to Brexit have begun, they were initiated on the 19th of June, which I get the feeling was rather quick, considering that the deal between the DUP and the Conservatives is, at time of posting this blog, reportedly sealed and done, with a reported £1.5 billion going to help Northern Ireland, though this is not including the £500 Million already available.
So, with the DUP backing Theresa May’s government, she has, for the time being at least, a secure, at least a more solid foothold than she did before, however, the next problem is that the deal that has just been signed up to may yet prove toxic, as there is one factor that needs to be sorted before long, Northern Ireland’s own Government, Stormount, has been without an executive for several months now and, in order to restore this devolved government, the negotiations between the DUP and Sinn Fein has stalled, though a deadline, set for this Thursday, may yet prove to be decisive, as if a deal is not in place by then, Westminster may be forced to take ‘direct control’ of Stormount, however, this may cause consternation within the country itself, though here is the problem.
With the Tory Government now involved in a deal with the DUP, questions about the impartiality of the parliament in England will be asked, for if they have a deal with one Northern Irish party, this may be seen as favoritism, which cannot stand.
Several high-ranking or former MPs have spoken out against this deal, including former Conservative Prime Minister, who believes that this deal between the two political parties might lead to the suggestion of bias, which might cause issue with any future discussions in trying to restore Stormount’s executive.
The issue is rather straightforward but whether or not it will become a problem is yet to be seen, with only three days until the deadline is reached, there is a lot of space to try and appease the two sides and return the parliament in Stormount to their place.
So, with Northern Ireland being something of a riddle for Theresa May, we now move to the immovable puzzle that is Scotland, despite the fact that the SNP have lost several seats in Westminster, which was leapt upon by Ruth Davidson as a sign that the people were tired of the Scottish Independence Referendum, Indyref 2 as it was being touted, like some sort of horrific sequel, though this is my issue with such crowing, the SNP mentioned the Indyref 2 idea a handful of times, the Scottish Conservatives, well, if it wasn’t for the name, you would swear that they were suggesting the idea to the people.
However, I am not laying this point solely at the Scottish Conservatives’ feet, the Scottish Labour and Scottish Liberal Democrat parties are both to be thrust into this particular spotlight, though here is the problem in a nutshell, the people might lose their appetite for such an idea, though it isn’t likely to figure in a lot of people’s minds, considering that the amount of people using food banks has increased, the living wage is in a constant battle with inflation and the only thing you hear from any party right now is Brexit, Indy-ref-2 or some other vast or monolithic notion.
In the simplest of thoughts, one of the shortest sentences I will probably ever write, the only thing people want to focus on, especially right now, is surviving, day to day, week to week, month to month, BREXIT will take two years, that’s only the negotiations, INDYREF 2, may not happen anytime soon, especially not if the three Unionist parties in Holyrood have their way, so, let’s focus on this…..PEOPLE WANT TO FOCUS ON THE ISSUES THAT MATTER TO THEM!!!!
Now, let us return the focus to the larger issue, the other negotiations that have just begun, for if we look to the way that the negotiations have been laid out, then there are several pitfalls before we even get to the suggestion of how the UK will exit the EU, for example, Ireland, the border between them and Northern Ireland, has been outlined as one of the negotiations to happen between now and October.
The other would be the rights of EU citizens in Britain, if this were to be discussed it would have to be resolved quickly, otherwise the issue might get bogged down, for we have to remember, in order to properly finish the negotiations and the eventual departure from the EU, there would also have to be the transfer of rules and regulations from EU to British law, things like the Human Rights Bill, though even there this could cause trouble, as the devolved governments would want a say in the transferring of powers to their respective administrations, the likes of Agriculture, Fishing and so forth.
So, for a ‘strong and stable’ Conservative government to even survive, they would need to make their way carefully through the subjects mentioned, not least of all the discussion of financial issues, for the EU has backed and supported projects here in the UK that, when the Brexit negotiations end, would leave those projects and any future ventures, hanging on a tightrope, though if the UK Government can produce £1.5 billion of funding for Northern Ireland, without infringing on the Barnett Formula, then surely our money worries are over, as far as building new projects are concerned…..Aren’t they?
talkhonesty 