‘Brexit will undoubtedly shape the next chapter in Ireland’s European story and test whether the ‘island behind the island’ can transcend its geography to define its future.’
Brexit
Bitter truths in Brussels
‘…there may well be sympathy for the Scottish case but it is, for now, entirely irrelevant to what’s at stake now. As we know from the last 43 months, that’s even more true of Westminster and Whitehall.’
#Indyref2 in 2020?
‘It will simply not be sufficient for the UK Government to highlight risks with independence. The status quo itself has important policy challenges, whether that be the economic costs of leaving the EU Single Market or the economic effect of limits on immigration.’
Ten predictions for #EU2020
As the UK gets set to leave the EU on January 31 2020 after 47 years of membership, we look forward to what’s likely to happen in mainland Europe in 2020…
EU academics: no thanks
‘The procedures are daunting and of Kafkaesque complexity – one form runs to 85 pages and requires examples of proof that make acquiring Catholic sainthood look simple.’
GE2019 and #indyref2
‘Surveys have shown that almost half of English voters are content to leave the matter to the Scots, with many of the rest having no opinion. There appears to be little appetite for coercing Scotland, should Scotland really want to leave.’
The only lesson worth learning: FPTP must go
‘Centrist or socialist, whoever leads the Labour party next—or indeed the Liberal Democrats—must put electoral reform back on the agenda.’
GE2019: the Scottish dimension
Ahead of the Westminster election on 12 December, James Mitchell explains how party competition in Scotland is shaped by interrelated questions of policy, competence, independence and Brexit…’
Will no deal bring break-up of UK?
‘Given that an independence referendum is very unlikely to happen before the latter half of 2021 at the earliest, Scotland would not become an independent country any earlier than the middle years of the next decade.’
A new strategy for the Union
‘The Sewel convention will need to be revived and reformed, with stronger guarantees that Westminster will not rewrite the rules of devolution without agreement.’