London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Tuesday, Jul 22, 2025

The Irish Times view on Brexit: does London really want a deal?

The Irish Times view on Brexit: does London really want a deal?

Once again, a new round of Brexit talks begins with a threat from London
We’ve been here before. More than once a Brexit talks round – one starts this week – has been heralded by a London chorus insisting that the UK is ready and able to walk away without a deal, will thrive without one, that time is running out, and that EU obstinacy is entirely responsible for the deadlock.

All accompanied by the reiteration of a version of the Rule Britannia refrain that “Britons never, never, never shall be slaves”. Last weekend the British chief negotiator David Frost banged that drum with the insistence that Britain would not let itself be a “client state”. This is all very familiar, in other words.

Time is running out. A deal needs to be completed, as Boris Johnson points out, by October 15th to be ratified by year-end. But weary resignation in Brussels and EU capitals at the latest sabre-rattling bluster has been shaken by a report from the Financial Times suggesting the UK is ready to undo some of the commitments made in the Northern Ireland protocol to the Withdrawal Agreement.

Brussels has made clear for some time that full implementation of the protocol provisions are not only legally binding on the UK – “Pacta sunt servanda”, agreements must be kept, as one diplomat put it – but a prerequisite for any agreement on the future trade deal with the EU.

The protocol’s key provisions relate to preventing the return of a hard border on the island of Ireland by allowing the North to remain part of the EU internal market, subject to its rules.

The reports suggest that London wants to water down state aid notification procedures by giving discretionary powers to ministers and to waive export summary declarations when goods go across the Irish Sea to Britain.

The British government acknowledges that checks will be required on goods moving in the opposite direction.

London says it is simply tying up “loose ends” with “clarifications”, and that its proposals are both entirely compatible with the protocol obligations, and only applicable should the talks with the commission in the Joint Committee (JC) on implementation of the Withdrawal Agreement fail to agree. The JC is working well and thoroughly, London says.

This week’s negotiations will thus open with a clarification of the clarification, before returning to the two most substantive, but not insuperable, disagreements still blocking a deal: how to make UK industrial subsidies compatible with free EU market access, and how to reconcile restrictions on EU fishermen’s access to UK waters with the latter’s free access to EU fish markets.

In Brussels and Dublin, however, there is increasing concern that the endless bellicose rhetoric really means London does not actually want a deal despite the dire consequences of such an outcome.
Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
US Treasury Secretary Calls for Institutional Review of Federal Reserve Amid AI‑Driven Growth Expectations
UK Government Considers Dropping Demand for Apple Encryption Backdoor
Severe Flooding in South Korea Claims Lives Amid Ongoing Rescue Operations
Japanese Man Discovers Family Connection Through DNA Testing After Decades of Separation
Russia Signals Openness to Ukraine Peace Talks Amid Escalating Drone Warfare
Switzerland Implements Ban on Mammography Screening
Japanese Prime Minister Vows to Stay After Coalition Loses Upper House Majority
Pogacar Extends Dominance with Stage Fifteen Triumph at Tour de France
CEO Resigns Amid Controversy Over Relationship with HR Executive
Man Dies After Being Pulled Into MRI Machine Due to Metal Chain in New York Clinic
NVIDIA Achieves $4 Trillion Valuation Amid AI Demand
US Revokes Visas of Brazilian Corrupted Judges Amid Fake Bolsonaro Investigation
U.S. Congress Approves Rescissions Act Cutting Federal Funding for NPR and PBS
North Korea Restricts Foreign Tourist Access to New Seaside Resort
Brazil's Supreme Court Imposes Radical Restrictions on Former President Bolsonaro
Centrist Criticism of von der Leyen Resurfaces as she Survives EU Confidence Vote
Judge Criticizes DOJ Over Secrecy in Dropping Charges Against Gang Leader
Apple Closes $16.5 Billion Tax Dispute With Ireland
Von der Leyen Faces Setback Over €2 Trillion EU Budget Proposal
UK and Germany Collaborate on Global Military Equipment Sales
Trump Plans Over 10% Tariffs on African and Caribbean Nations
Flying Taxi CEO Reclaims Billionaire Status After Stock Surge
Epstein Files Deepen Republican Party Divide
Zuckerberg Faces $8 Billion Privacy Lawsuit From Meta Shareholders
FIFA Pressured to Rethink World Cup Calendar Due to Climate Change
SpaceX Nears $400 Billion Valuation With New Share Sale
Microsoft, US Lab to Use AI for Faster Nuclear Plant Licensing
Trump Walks Back Talk of Firing Fed Chair Jerome Powell
Zelensky Reshuffles Cabinet to Win Support at Home and in Washington
"Can You Hit Moscow?" Trump Asked Zelensky To Make Putin "Feel The Pain"
Irish Tech Worker Detained 100 days by US Authorities for Overstaying Visa
Dimon Warns on Fed Independence as Trump Administration Eyes Powell’s Succession
Church of England Removes 1991 Sexuality Guidelines from Clergy Selection
Superman Franchise Achieves Success with Latest Release
Hungary's Viktor Orban Rejects Agreements on Illegal Migration
Jeff Bezos Considers Purchasing Condé Nast as a Wedding Gift
Ghislaine Maxwell Says She’s Ready to Testify Before Congress on Epstein’s Criminal Empire
Bal des Pompiers: A Celebration of Community and Firefighter Culture in France
FBI Chief Kash Patel Denies Resignation Speculations Amid Epstein List Controversy
Air India Pilot’s Mental Health Records Under Scrutiny
Google Secures Windsurf AI Coding Team in $2.4 Billion Licence Deal
Jamie Dimon Warns Europe Is Losing Global Competitiveness and Flags Market Complacency
South African Police Minister Suspended Amid Organised Crime Allegations
Nvidia CEO Claims Chinese Military Reluctance to Use US AI Technology
Hong Kong Advances Digital Asset Strategy to Address Economic Challenges
Australia Rules Out Pre‑commitment of Troops, Reinforces Defence Posture Amid US‑China Tensions
Martha Wells Says Humanity Still Far from True Artificial Intelligence
Nvidia Becomes World’s First Four‑Trillion‑Dollar Company Amid AI Boom
U.S. Resumes Deportations to Third Countries After Supreme Court Ruling
Excavation Begins at Site of Mass Grave for Children at Former Irish Institution
×