Brexit. Why do Brits want Out of the EU?

SHANNON, Ireland (Reuters) - Donald Trump, arriving in Ireland for the first time as U.S. president on Wednesday, sought to reassure the country that Britain’s exit from the European Union would work out fine for its near neighbor.

Prime Minister Leo Varadkar planned to use a meeting with Trump, who has been a vocal supporter of Brexit, to underline Ireland’s concerns over the departure, his deputy said.

How to keep EU-member Ireland’s 500-km (350-mile) border with Northern Ireland open after Brexit and ensure it does not jeopardize two decades of peace in the British province is proving the most intractable issue in Britain’s tortuous efforts to leave the EU.

Before meeting Varadkar, Trump said he expected the premier would ask him about Brexit and it would all work out “very well”.

“The way it (the border) works now is good, you want to try and keep it that way and I know that’s a big point of contention with respect to Brexit. I’m sure it’s going to work out well,” Trump told reporters.

Deputy Prime Minister Simon Coveney told national broadcaster RTE earlier: “I think the focus of the discussion between the taoiseach (prime minister) and President Trump today will be on the impact of Brexit on Ireland. This U.S. administration and previous ones have consistently been supportive of the Irish peace process.”

“It’s a big deal when a U.S. president comes to Ireland. The relationship between Ireland and the U.S. remains strong, even though we disagree on many policy areas with the current administration,” Coveney added, including Trump’s “blunt” views in favor of Brexit among those areas.

Trump said in his remarks that the two countries had a great relationship, “as good as it’s been”.

Varadkar had opposed extending an invitation to Trump as a cabinet minister before changing his mind when he took over as prime minister in 2017.

Trump’s meeting with the prime minister is part of a trip that will also include a stop-off at one of the president’s golf resorts.

On Brexit and the Irish Border, Mr Trump said: “I’m sure it’s going to work out well...There are a lot of good minds thinking about how to do it… the Border will work out.”

Mr Trump said a new UK prime minister would be in place when Brexit was dealt with but that “I know one thing, Ireland is going to be in great shape. I don’t think the Border is going to be a problem”.

Karen Wheeler’s resignation stokes fears the UK won’t be ready for a no-deal Brexit by October

The government official in charge of delivering Brexit border arrangements, including emergency plans for Dover and Ireland in the event of no deal, has quit just two years into her job.

Karen Wheeler, the director general of Her Majesty’s Revenue & Customs Brexit border delivery group, was the lead official co-ordinating a cross-Whitehall response involving police, ports, customs and freight interests.

Her departure is being seen as a blow to the government and increasing the risk that the UK will not be as prepared for a possible no deal on 31 October as it was on the original Brexit day of 29 March.

“Nothing is happening in Whitehall now. Lots of people have been stood down on Brexit no-deal preparations and there is a general risk that people are just going to see this hiatus as an opportunity to clear off and go into the private sector,” said a source who knows Wheeler.

Jon Thompson, HMRC’s chief executive, said in a statement: “I would like to thank Karen for her outstanding work leading the Border Delivery Group to prepare the UK for EU exit and we wish her well for her retirement. We shall be announcing her successor in due course.”

Thompson is seen as one of the most brutally honest Whitehall officials in relation to the realities of Brexit and his openness in multiple appearances in House of Commons select committees warning of ballooning costs of border arrangements has had a knock-on effect in the culture of the department.

It meant officials were unafraid of politically inconvenient truths, including Wheeler who earlier this year said there were no magic technological solutions for preventing a hard border with Ireland in the event of no deal.

Wheeler said the UK would need a customs union with the EU, plus something that looked like a single market, to have completely free movement of goods across the border between Northern Ireland and Ireland.

Wheeler was appointed director general for border co-ordination at HMRC on 3 July 2017.

HMRC declined to comment further on Wheeler’s departure but there will be fears that other senior officials including Theresa May’s chief Brexit negotiator Olly Robbins may also use the hiatus to seek pastures new.

Joe Owen, the Institute for Government’s Brexit programme director, predicted earlier this week that “many of the 16,000 civil servants working on Brexit will now be looking for a change of scenery”.

Wheeler is the second senior official to leave in as many months - Philip Rycroft, the civil servant in charge at the Department of Exiting the EU, left on 29 March – even though the UK did not, Owen noted.

“There is likely to be even more churn in the levels below, even if it’s not as visible externally,” he said. “By October, with the Brexit deadline rapidly approaching, the officials in some of the key no-deal jobs could have been in post for little more than a few months.”

Northern Irish civil society groups warn May replacement hopefuls of no deal’s 'devastating impact'

Conservative party leadership contenders who are talking up a no-deal Brexit risk putting Northern Ireland on to an emergency footing, civil rights groups from across the political divide have warned.

Human rights organisation, workers’ unions, representatives of rural communities and a dozen other organisations are writing to all the candidates to succeed Theresa May to warn them no deal would have a “devastating impact” on the social cohesion in border areas.
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Two Conservative leadership candidates have said they are ready to take the UK out of the EU without a deal, if the only alternative is halting Brexit.

But neither Sajid Javid nor Jeremy Hunt gave an absolute pledge to quit the EU by the deadline of October 31 this year, though the home secretary said he would do everything in his power to do so

Speaking to Sky News’ Sophy Ridge on Sunday, Mr Javid said: “The policy of any government I lead will be to leave on 31 October. We will do everything in our power to leave on 31 October.

“I will do everything I can to get a deal, but if I have to choose between no deal and no Brexit, I will choose no deal.”

And foreign secretary Mr Hunt told the same programme: “I have always said that if the only way to leave the EU is without a deal, I would do that, because we have to honour that referendum result.

“But I would do so with a heavy heart because of the potential risks to business and to the Union, and I wouldn’t do it if there was a prospect of a good deal.”

Mr Hunt said it was “unwise” for any candidate to pledge to leave by 31 October regardless of whether a deal has been secured - as frontrunner Boris Johnson has done - as this might require calling a general election which would be “catastrophic” for the Tories.

“If you say 31 October is a deadline, come what may, and parliament blocks no deal, the only way to deliver on that promise is to have an election and change parliament, and that would be catastrophic for the Conservative Party,” he said.

He warned Tories against choosing a leader who would take an “ultra-hardline” approach to Brexit, as the EU would take an ultra-hardline stance in response.

Asked for his view of Mr Johnson’s record as foreign secretary, Mr Hunt replied: “He was quite a Marmite character, of course, and there are European foreign ministers who found him difficult to deal with because of his views on Brexit.”He said he had been encouraged in private talks with German Chancellor Angela Merkel at last week’s D-Day commemorations by indications that she was ready to see the UK take a new approach to the Irish border issue.

“When talking to other European governments, what I hear the whole time is they want to do a deal with us if we approach it the right way,” he said.

And he insisted the UK could make a success of Brexit: “We have been through far, far worse in our history and we can get through this and we can make a terrific success of it, and I think we will.”

Environment secretary Michael Gove said that he would be willing to extend Brexit talks for “weeks or days” beyond 31 October if a withdrawal deal was within grasp.

But asked on BBC1’s Andrew Marr Show if the UK could remain in the EU until early 2020 if he became prime minister, he replied: “No.”

Mr Gove said he would ensure Brexit happened “at the earliest possible opportunity”.

But he said: “I wouldn’t delay until the end of next year, but there is a clear choice. If we are on the cusp of a good deal and we are 95 per cent of the way there on 31 October, would it really make sense to junk that progress and say we are leaving without a deal.”

He said it was an “irresponsible risk” for any leadership contender to make it an absolute commitment to leave by the end of October, deal or no deal, as this was likely to precipitatie a no-confidence vote in the Commons and a general election which would be won by Jeremy Corbyn.

Mr Javid is promising to spend “hundreds of millions of pounds” on a technological solution to the problem of the Irish border in order to be able to quit Europe with a deal based on Theresa May’s withdrawal agreement.

Despite widespread doubts that the technology exists to police millions of movement across hundreds of border crossings between Northern Ireland and the Republic, Mr Javid insisted that a system could be introduced “within a couple of years” if both sides were willing to work together.

He said that a successful withdrawal agreement would create a “mini economic boom in this country” which would pay for the equipment required.

Mr Javid, who has won the endorsement of the Tory leader in Scotland Ruth Davidson for his leadership bid, is planning to slow down the rate at which the UK pays down its deficit if he becomes PM.

He said this could free up £15-£25 billion a year to spend on priorities like schools, local government and crime.

Mr Javid said be believed Britain was ready for a Muslim prime minister, and said it would be an advantage to the Conservatives to select a new leader who was seen as an “outsider”, not only because of his racial background but also his working-class upbringing.

He said he was “privileged” to be the first member of an ethnic minority to serve in one of the “great offices of state”.

Asked if his party was ready for a Muslim PM, he said: “I think the country – not just the Conservative Party – is ready for leaders in politics from all sorts of backgrounds.

“When I compare Britain to so many other countries, there is no doubt in my mind that we are the most successful multi-racial democracy in the world.”

Mr Javid said he had experienced racism as a child and young man, but not since entering Parliament.

“As a child, sadly, many times – these are things you don’t forget, being called ‘Paki’, being attacked by National Front skinheads, and punching back a few times,” he said.

He added: “Sometimes, I do think of myself as a bit of an outsider, not just because of race but my working-class background and the schools I went to.

“Sometimes there’s a strong case to have an outsider as leader because it shakes people up … One of the best ways to get your message out there is to do something different, pick a bit of an outsider.”

Meanwhile the EU Economic leadership is meeting with their Japanese counterparts, perhaps to discuss the ongoing "Japanification" or stagnation of Europe.

Participants in the meeting are: Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors of the G7 countries (Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, U.K. and U.S.), Argentina, Australia, Brazil, China, India, Indonesia, Korea, Mexico, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa and Turkey; the Finance Minister of the EU presidency country; the European Central Bank (ECB) President; Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors of some invited countries; and representatives of international organizations including the IMF and World Bank.

there is no such "jungle" of escaping British in Calais