BREXIT may not produce the free trade agreement with the US many euroskeptics hoped for as the Irish lobby in Washington pressures Joe Biden to come down hard on Boris Johnson.
By Charlie Bradley, Express. London. Thursday, December 10, 2020
Joe Biden’s election victory in November will undoubtedly change the landscape of world politics as he replaces outgoing President Donald Trump. As Brexit trade talks reach a tense conclusion, it appears even UK-EU negotiations will also be shaped by the result across the Atlantic. The President-elect has long been vocal about his strong connection to Ireland, a country where his ancestors originated. The Democrat piled pressure on Prime Minister Boris Johnson during Brexit talks after he tried to modify his withdrawal agreement with the EU.But Mr. Johnson’s Internal Market Bill sparked anger in Washington, with Mr. Biden warning that the Good Friday Agreement must not be a “casualty of Brexit”.However, the Prime Minister also angered one of the US Congress’ most influential lobby groups – the Friends of Ireland – leaving the UK’s hopes of a US trade deal post-Brexit in disarray.Congressman Richard Neal, chair of the powerful Ways and Means Committee and member of the Friends of Ireland caucus, released a statement in September condemning Mr. Johnson’s efforts to change the protocol.He said: “Earlier this year, the European Union and the United Kingdom approved a withdrawal agreement that established the terms of the United Kingdom’s orderly exit from the EU. “I urge both sides to uphold the terms of this joint agreement, particularly with respect to the treatment of Northern Ireland, in accordance with international law. “The UK’s departure from the EU at the end of this year and any US-UK trade agreement must preserve the Good Friday Agreement, which has maintained peace and prosperity for British and European peoples since 1998.”Every political party on the island opposes a return of a hard border. I sincerely hope the British government upholds the rule of law and delivers on the commitments it made during Brexit negotiations, particularly in regard to the Irish border protocols.” The group was reported to have as many as 54 members by The Guardian in 2019, outlining the key influence it could have over a US-UK free trade agreement. The Irish National Caucus website still lists 36 senators and representatives who were infuriated by Mr. Johnson’s Internal Market Bill.It would appear, however, that the UK Government has realized the potential damage changes to the Northern Ireland protocol could have. This week, Cabinet Office minister Michael Gove announced plans to ditch some of the controversial clauses in the Internal Market Bill while looking for a last-minute deal with the EU. He added that he was “delighted” to have reached an agreement, including on post-Brexit arrangements for the Irish border, following talks with European Commission Vice President Maros Sefcovic. While this will be a step in the right direction as far as Washington is concerned, a former UK ambassador to the US warned there could still be ill-feeling between Mr. Johnson and Mr. Biden. Sir Kim Darroch, made the claim in October, saying that Mr Johnson’s comments about Barack Obama in 2016 have had a lasting impact.Mr. Johnson accused Mr. Obama of having an “ancestral dislike of the British Empire”, referring to his “part-Kenyan” ancestry.The comments were branded “idiotic” and “deeply offensive”. Sir Kim Darroch said: “I hesitate to say this, but there will be some Obama people in a Biden administration and they remember some of the things that the current Prime Minister said about Obama whether as a newspaper columnist or whether it was Mayor of London. “I promise you there is still some resentment and unhappiness over that. I’m not sure there will be, you know, quite the warm, welcoming embrace from Mr. Biden as it would from Mr. Trump.”
Supporters of President Trump in Lansing, Mich., on Tuesday.Emily Elconin/Reuters
Falsehoods and threats
President Trump’s attempts to overturn the election result are very unlikely to succeed. For that reason, the effort can sometimes seem like a publicity stunt — an effort by Trump to raise money and burnish his image with his supporters.
And it may well be all of those things. But it is also a remarkable campaign against American democracy. It has grown to include most Republican-run states, most Republican members of Congress and numerous threats of violence. I want to use today’s newsletter to explain it.
The new centerpiece in the effort is a lawsuit that the state of Texas filed this week with the Supreme Court and that Trump supports. It claims that the election in four swing states — Georgia, Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin — suffered from “unconstitutional irregularities.”
The suit is based on the same lies that Trump has been telling about voter fraud. In reality, there was no meaningful fraud, as local officials from both parties have concluded. William Barr, Trump’s attorney general, came to the same conclusion.
Nonetheless, the attorneys general of 17 states — including Florida, South Carolina, Tennessee, Indiana, Utah, Arizona and the Dakotas — have backed the Texas lawsuit. Yesterday, more than half of House Republicans released a legal brief supporting it. “If they get their way in court (they won’t), they would break the country,” David French of The Dispatch, a conservative publication, wrote.
They are doing so, as my colleagues Jeremy Peters and Maggie Haberman have explained, largely because they believe that defying Trump would damage their standing with Republican voters. By doing so, the politicians are “inflaming the public,” French noted, causing many voters to believe — wrongly — that a presidential election was unfair. And that belief is fueling an outbreak of violent threats against elections officials, including:
Dozens of Trump supporters, some armed, went to the home of Jocelyn Benson, Michigan’s Democratic secretary of state, and began shouting obscenities.On Twitter, Trump supporters have posted photographs of the home of Ann Jacobs, a Wisconsin official, and mentioned her children.In Phoenix, about 100 Trump supporters, some armed, protested at the building where officials were counting votes.In Vermont, officials received a voice message threatening them with “execution by firing squad.”Seth Bluestein, a Philadelphia official, received anti-Semitic and violent threats after Pam Bondi, a Trump ally, publicly mentioned him.A Georgia poll worker went into hiding after a viral video falsely claimed he had discarded ballots.Brad Raffensperger, Georgia’s Republican secretary of state, and his wife have received death threats, including by text message, and caravans have circled their house.Gabriel Sterling, another Georgia official, received a message wishing him a happy birthday and saying it would be his last.
In a later interview with Time magazine, Sterling argued that elected politicians could defuse the threats by acknowledging that the election was fair. “Leadership is supposed to look like grown-ups in the room saying, ‘I know you’re upset, but this is the reality,’” Sterling said.
A swing state responds: In a Supreme Court filing, Pennsylvania called the Texas lawsuit part of a “cacophony of bogus claims,” a “seditious abuse of the judicial process” and “an affront to principles of constitutional democracy.”
In a letter to the UK Ambassador to the United States, Dame Karen Pierce, and copied to all members of the U.S. House of Representatives and Senate, the Ancient Order of Hibernians have expressed their outrage at the decision by the British government not to pursue an open inquiry into the assassination of civil rights lawyer Pat Finucane – this despite the admission by the UK of “shocking levels of collusion” by government entities.
The letter states: “We write to you, Ambassador Pierce, as members of the National Board of the Ancient Order of Hibernians, the largest Irish American organization in the United States, to express our indignation at the decision not to pursue an open inquiry into the assassination of civil rights lawyer Pat Finucane.
We find it an oxymoron that Northern Ireland Secretary Brandon Lewis can both apologize for the murder of Mr. Finucane and reiterate the admission of ‘shocking levels of collusion’ by UK government entities while simultaneously ignoring international appeals, including a letter signed by 24 members of the U.S. Congress, for a full and open inquiry.
“We find Secretary Lewis’ claim that the decision not to pursue an open inquiry is due to concerns of interfering with investigations by the Ombudsman and the PSNI disingenuous to the point of insulting the world’s intelligence. The Ombudsman has publicly stated they have no plans regarding the Finucane case, and PSNI Chief Constable Simon Byrne has said that there are ‘currently no new lines of inquiry.’ We can only conclude that either Secretary Lewis is completely disconnected from Northern Ireland reality or completely duplicitous.
“We note the stark contrast between the decision not to pursue an inquiry into the Finucane case and the British government’s reaction to the attempted assassination by Russian intelligence agents of former Russian double agent Sergei Skripal and his daughter, Yulia.
“We specifically note the comments made by Jeremy Fleming, Director of Britain’s intelligence organization GCHQ, that ‘[Russia is] not playing to the same rules, they’re blurring the boundaries between criminal and state activity.’
“We find the hypocrisy of Britain denouncing Russia for ‘blurring the boundaries between criminal and state activity’ while covering up their own admitted ‘shocking levels of collusion’ in the assassination of a civil rights lawyer, and the wounding of his wife by their own security forces, to be unprecedented.
“Since after three decades, and despite numerous commitments under internationally recognized treaty, the UK continues to ignore its responsibilities to the Finucanes and the other victims of ‘the Troubles,’ the members of the Ancient Order of Hibernians are committed to working with members of the U.S. Congress and Senate to hold the UK accountable.
“The Hibernians remember the words of Dr. Martin Luther King that ‘Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.’”
The letter to Ambassador Pierce is signed by AOH National President Daniel J. O’Connell, Political Action Chair Neil F. Cosgrove, and Freedom for All Ireland Chair Martin Galvin.
Amid the latest intra-unionist ructions around Brexit, Mary Lou McDonald has repeated her belief that a united Ireland is mere years away – although her rhetoric appeared less definitive than before.
Thursday, 10th December 2020, 11:23 amUpdated4 hours ago
Pacemaker Press 30/07/2019 – Sinn Féin President Mary Lou McDonald addresses a meeting in the Factory Room at the Metropolitan Arts Centre, (MAC), Belfast
The Sinn Fein president made the comments in an interview with Owen Jones, a columnist for The Guardian of London.
They followed similar remarks which she made at her party conference just over a year ago.
At that time, Mrs McDonald had declared: “Let the message go loud and clear, to Government Buildings in Dublin and to No 10 Downing Street, that this new decade is the one in which we will finally end partition to achieve a new, united Ireland…
“The Irish government must convene an All-Ireland Forum; to map the transition to a United Ireland, to involve all the people, to plan for our economy and our public services.https://ce03a7c5bff6be033e0397713280583a.safeframe.googlesyndication.com/safeframe/1-0-37/html/container.html
“And then the referendum must happen in the next five years. Let the people have their say!”
Given her ard fheis speech was November 2019, five years would be the end of 2024.
In her remarks to Mr Jones (who describes himself as an “anti-fascist” whose pronouns are “he/him”), Mrs McDonald said this week: “We’ll do it in the next decade – we’ll do it in this decade, actually.
“This is the decade of opportunity.https://ce03a7c5bff6be033e0397713280583a.safeframe.googlesyndication.com/safeframe/1-0-37/html/container.html
“We’ve no ard fheis no party conference this year, sadly, but the last time we met was November 2019, and I set it out there in my speech to our party delegates, and I believe we can have our referendum, win it, and win it well in the course of this decade.
“It’s my job as leader of Sinn Fein… to navigate us to that certain and safe shore.”
The Sinn Fein press office was asked if the party still hopes for a referendum before 2025, as indicated in her 2019 ard fheis speech; a response is awaited.
Supporters of President Trump in Lansing, Mich., on Tuesday.Emily Elconin/Reuters
