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Valid Reasons Only
This week began with Boris Johnson meeting Jean-Claude Juncker in Luxembourg, followed by discussions both in Strasbourg during the European Parliament's plenary session, and in London at the UK supreme court, on the topic of Brexit. As Le Soir writes, Members of the European Parliament voted during their plenary session to support another Brexit extension should the UK request one. The 544 MEPs who agreed on Wednesday are refusing to accept another delay unless the UK comes up with “valid reasons and objectives”. Le Soir points out that, at least on this subject, the majority of MEPs were in agreement despite their different political groups (with the exception being the extreme right). Nonetheless, the European Parliament also underlines that it is the UK’s sole responsibility to handle the potential no-deal scenario, come the 31 October deadline.
The article in French: Le Parlement européen refuse le report du brexit sans «raisons valables»
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Fantasies and Realities
In an amusing and shamelessly unapologetic opinion piece written for The Irish Times, article author Bobby McDonagh highlights three major underlying reasons for Brexit (a situation he describes as “the current shambles”). First, he blames Boris Johnson – the younger version, when the PM used to be a Telegraph correspondent in Brussels – for fostering strong Eurosceptic sentiments in his readers, years ago. Secondly, McDonagh writes that language – words and their meaning – continues to be twisted, since reality and fiction (i.e. the news and fake news) are no longer easily discernible. Thirdly, and perhaps the most important underlying factor for the current state of affairs in the UK, is the idea of who constitutes ‘the people’ of the Kingdom; is it only the majority that have a voice?
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David Cameron's Regret
Le Monde writes this week about ex-Prime Minister David Cameron’s recent Times interview and his new book, For The Record, which just went on sale yesterday September 19th. As one might expect, Cameron seems regretful after the outcome of the 2016 referendum, and he admits he thinks about it everyday. Nevertheless, he assures that the referendum was ‘inevitable’ (due to what Cameron calls a precarious situation in the UK at the time). Though no longer Prime Minister, he nonetheless gives his opinion on Brexit and the current situation surrounding Boris Johnson’s government. Conservative in his responses, Cameron wishes the best for Johnson, even though he does not agree with the current PM’s strategic approach to the problem at hand.
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Spanish Residency for the Britons
El País writes this week on the number of Britons moving to Spain, a 10% increase since December 2018. Most of them registering in Andalusia and Valencia, the Spanish newspaper writes that this is due to the uncertainty surrounding Brexit. It is revealed that more than 360,000 Britons are officially registered in the country, and those numbers are likely to rise with the upcoming October 31st deadline. Interestingly, the data also shows that more than a third of the Brits residing along the Spanish coast are over the age of 65. El País writes that there is a bigger amount of people rushing to register now than directly after the referendum in 2016.
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