The Week - UK (2020-09-12)

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THEWEEK 12 September 2020


The main stories...


It wasn’tall bad


“Inmessydivorces,recriminationsalltooeasilygiveway
tothreats,”saidtheFT.TheGovernment’spreparationsto
overrideelementsofthewithdrawalagreement
maybeaprovocativenegotiatinggambitrather
thanaseriousplan,butthey’re“dangerous”
eitherway,giventheharmtheythreatento
inflictontheUK’sreputation.TheGovernment
has“cometoregretthedealthatithadpro-
claimedasatriumphlastyear”,saidThe
Times,butitcan’trenegeonitnow.Todo
sowouldbea“breachoffaith”withBritish
voters,whoelectedtheToriesinDecember
onthebasisthatthePMhadagreedan“oven-
readydeal”thatwould“getBrexitdone”.

Unpickinglegalcommitmentsinthewithdrawal
agreementwouldalsopresenttheUKasan
“unreliablepartner”,saidTheEconomist,
seriouslyunderminingoureffortstosecure
futuretradedealswithothercountries.Congressionalleaders
inWashingtonhavealreadysaidthat,ifBrexitupsetsthe
GoodFridayAgreement,they’llvetoanyfreetradeagreement
withtheUS.There’snogettingaroundthefactthatthe
Governmentwouldbeinbreachofitsinternationallegal
obligations,said TheDaily Telegraph.“Thereisaway to
avoidall ofthis, and that istoagreeatrade deal.”

TheGovernmentplungedtheUK-EUtradedeal
negotiationsintocrisisthisweekbypublishinga
billthatwouldoverridepartsofthewithdrawal
agreementBorisJohnsonsignedinJanuary.
TheNorthernIrelandSecretaryBrandonLewis
concededthatsomeclausesofthebillwould
breakinternationallaw,ina“veryspecificand
limitedway”,bygivingunilaterallegalpowers
toUKministerstooverseeelementsofthe
NorthernIrelandprotocol.Ministersinsisted
thiswasmerelya“safetynet”,clarifyingthe
legalpositionintheeventofano-dealBrexit,
buttheproposedlegislationattracted
widespreadcriticismfrombothToryand
LabourMPsandledtotheresignationofthe
Government’stoplawyer,SirJonathanJones.

JohnsonsoughttoapplymorepressureonBrusselsbeforethe
newroundofnegotiationsthisweekbysayinghewouldwalk
awayfromthetableiftherewasnodealby 15 October.The
UKwould“prospermightily”withorwithoutanagreement,
hesaid.Talkshavebeendeadlockedforweeksoverfishing
rights andBrussels’sdemandsthat theUK continuesto adhere
to EU rulescoveringstate aidto businesses.

What happened What theeditorialssaid


Signing the “oven-ready” deal


Brexit threats


Germanyhas confirmed “what theworld already assumed”,
said TheWall Street Journal. Novichok,the lethal nerveagent
used against former Russianspy andBritish
double agentSergeiSkripalin Salisbury in2018,
can only beaccessedby state actors–leaving
little doubt that the Kremlin wasbehind
Navalny’spoisoning. Putinhad “pressing
reasonstosidelinehis long-time nemesis”,
said TheWashington Post.His pollratings are
“sagging”,he is facing persistent opposition
protestsin Russia’s far east; and apopular
uprisingin neighbouringBelarusis “setting an
example” for Russians weary of his autocratic
rule.But the attemptto killNavalnyusing
Novichok–which is banned under international
law –demands atougher response from the
West than that which followed previous attacks.

But many inthe West appear“too frightened”totakeafirm
stance against Putin, said The Independent. If the Kremlin is
allowed to continue acting with impunity, we cannot be under
any illusions as to what will follow: Russia will simply “carry
on murdering its enemies and invading itsneighbours”.

German doctors confirmed last weekthat the
poisoned Russian opposition leader,Alexei
Navalny –who isbeingtreatedat Berlin’s
prestigious Charité hospital –was thevictim
of aNovichokattack. Announcingtheir
findings,Germanchancellor Angela Merkel
said thatthe use of amilitary-gradenerve
agent“raisesveryseriousquestionsthat
onlythe Russiangovernmentcanand must
answer”, addingthat “it isnow certain Alexei
Navalny was thevictim ofacrime –he was
supposed to besilenced”.Boris Johnson
echoed calls forMoscow to explain the“out-
rageous” poisoning, while Foreign Secretary
Dominic Raabsaid theKremlin,whichdenies
beinginvolved,had a“clearcaseto answer”.

Navalny, 44, was flown toBerlinfortreatmenttwodays
after falling ill last month. OnMonday, doctorssaid hehad
been broughtout of an inducedcoma, but warned he could
yet face “long-term” health consequences fromthe attack.

What happened What the editorials said


Navalny: felled byanerve agent


The Novichok poisoning


The Brontë Parsonage Museum
has been givena£20,000 lifeline
by theestate of T.S. Eliot. The
West Yorkshire museum –
which was closed for months
during lockdown–had launched
acrowdfunding campaign to
raise £100,000 to keep it afloat
when it received the “totally
unexpected” gift.Aspokesman
for the Eliot estate said it had
been able to make the donation
thanks to the royalties it gets
from the musicalCats,which
is based on the poet’sOld
Possum’s Book of Practical Cats.

Ateenager who survived
aTaliban massacre in 2014
has wonaplace at Oxford
University. Ahmad Nawaz was
shot in the arm by one of the
six terrorists who stormed his
school in Peshawar, in northern
Pakistan; he survived the eight-
hour attack by playing dead, but
his brother was among the 132
children killed. After weeks in
hospital, Ahmad, who was then
14, was flown to Birmingham
for specialist treatment. He
stayed, and has now achieved
the grades he needs to take up
aplace to study philosophy and
theology at Lady Margaret Hall.

AScottish man has
climbed all of the
country’s 282 Munros
–peaks higher than
3,000ft–in31days
and 23 hours, beating
the previous record
by more thanaweek.
Donnie Campbell,
who represented
Team GB at the
World Trail
Championships in
2016, cycled and kayaked between mountains. He coveredatotal
of 883 miles on foot and 896 miles on his bike, and ascended the
equivalent of Mount Everest 14 times. For aboutathird of the
journey,asupport team helped carry his kit, and at night he slept
in acampervan driven by his wife, Rachael.
COVER CARTOON: NEIL DAVIES

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