Brexit-aren ondoren: Irlanda, Eskozia eta EB

Britainia Handiak 2020ko urtarrilaren 31n Europako Batasuna formalki utzi zuenean, bere aldekoek ospatu zuten “subiranotasun britainiarra” berrezarri zela, baina Brexitak bultzada berri bat eman dio estatu britainiarraren desintegrazioari, Eskoziaren independentziari eta Irlandaren batasunari emandako babesa handituz. EBk, oro har, begiko ditu asmo horiek, baina neurri handi batean pasiboa izan da, haustura politikoarekiko duen higuina dela eta. Baliteke jarrera hori aldatu behar izatea.

Irlandako mugak zailtasun larriak eragin ditu Brexit-aren negoziazioetan eta ordutik hona. EBren muga porotsu berri batek, gatazka osteko eremu batean, merkatu bakarra eta EBko aduana-batasuna mehatxatzen zituen, eta irudimenezko konponbideak eskatzen zituen. Azken erantzunak, Brexita Erretiratzeko Akordioaren “Irlanda/Ipar Irlandari buruzko Protokoloak”, eszenatoki bat negoziatu zuen “bi munduetako onena” jasoz: merkatu bakarra, eskualde-ekonomia, jurisdikzio britainiarra eta 1998ko Ostiral Santuko Akordioan ezarritako eskubideak babestea.

Hala ere, Britainia Handiak mugari eta Irlandako iparraldeari emandako tratu arduragabeak bultzada berri bat eman dio Irlandako batasunari buruzko eztabaidari. 

Irakurri artikulu osoa Gure Esku - Periskopioan.

Después del Brexit: Irlanda, Escocia y la UE

Cuando Gran Bretaña abandonó formalmente la Unión Europea (UE) el 31 de enero de 2020, sus partidarios lo celebraron como una restauración de la «soberanía británica», pero el Brexit ha dado un nuevo impulso a la desintegración del Estado británico, con el aumento del apoyo a la independencia de Escocia y a la unidad de Irlanda. La UE, aunque en general simpatiza con estas aspiraciones, ha permanecido en gran medida pasiva debido a su instintiva aversión a la ruptura política. Es posible que esta postura tenga que cambiar.

La frontera irlandesa ha causado graves dificultades tanto durante las negociaciones del Brexit como desde entonces. Una nueva frontera porosa de la UE en una zona post-conflicto, amenazaba el mercado único y la unión aduanera de la UE y exigía soluciones imaginativas. La respuesta final, el «Protocolo sobre Irlanda/Irlanda del Norte» del Acuerdo de Retirada del Brexit, negoció un escenario recogiendo «lo mejor de ambos mundos»: proteger el Mercado Único, la economía regional, la jurisdicción británica y los derechos establecidos en el Acuerdo de Viernes Santo de 1998.

Sin embargo, el imprudente trato de Gran Bretaña a la frontera y al Norte de Irlanda ha dado un nuevo impulso al debate sobre la unidad irlandesa.

Lea el artículo completo en Gure Esku - Periskopioa.

After Brexit: Ireland, Scotland and the EU

When Britain formally left the European Union (EU) on January 31, 2020, its supporters celebrated it as a restoration of “British sovereignty”, but Brexit has given fresh impetus to the disintegration of the British state, with support for Scottish independence and Irish unity rising. The EU, while generally sympathetic to these aspirations, has remained largely passive due to its instinctive dislike of political rupture. This stance may need to change.

The Irish border has caused serious difficulties both during Brexit negotiations and since. A porous new EU frontier in a post-conflict zone, it threatened the EU’s Single Market and Customs Union and demanded imaginative solutions. The eventual answer, the “Protocol on Ireland/ Northern Ireland” to the Brexit Withdrawal Agreement, negotiated a “best of both worlds” scenario: protecting the Single Market, the regional economy, British jurisdiction, and rights set out in the 1998 Good Friday Agreement.

However, Britain’s reckless treatment of the border and the North of Ireland has breathed fresh life into the Irish unity debate. 

Read the full article at Gure Esku - Periskopioa.

Elections punish Lib-Dems, boost Scottish independence

Voting across Britain on May 5 resulted in a rejection of changes to the electoral system, but election results in Scotland may herald the end of Britain as we know it.

The referendum on introducing an “Alternative Vote” voting system (much like the preferential voting system in Australia) to replace the current “First Past The Post” system was decisively defeated. With a turnout of only 42%, 67.87% voted against the change.

In council elections held on the same day across England, the Labour party was the biggest winner, achieving a 10% swing to take 37% of the popular vote and pick up 857 new councillors.

Labour’s gains were particularly strong in the north, where its traditional heartland is suffering the brunt of the Conservative Party-dominated government’s austerity drive.

Despite presiding over the austerity measures, the Conservative vote actually increased slightly to 38%. The bulk of Labour's swing came from the Liberal Democrats.

The Liberal Democrats, who are in coalition government with the Conservatives, dropped 9% to 17% overall, and lost 748 local councillors.

English woodlands under Tory threat

Plans by Britain’s Conservative Party government to sell off all of England’s public forests have sparked a rural revolt and mass public outrage across the country.

Prime Minister David Cameron’s Tory government has announced that it plans to sell off 15 per cent of all English land managed by the government-owned Forestry Commission by 2015 – the largest sell-off the Government can authorise without an act of parliament – for around £100 million.

There are also plans to sell the remaining 85 percent, and a clause in a new Public Bodies Bill would give the Environment Secretary the power to do so – the biggest change in land ownership in England since the Second World War.

The Forestry Commission manages over 250,000 hectares – almost 20 percent of the total woodland in England – comprising approximately 1,500 forests, including the New Forest, the ancient and beautiful Forest of Dean, and parts of the famous Sherwood Forest.

The public forest estates in Wales (126,000 hectares) and Scotland (660,000 hectares) – also managed by the Forestry Commission – remain under the control of the devolved assemblies in those countries (rather than the UK government). There are no plans to sell off the Scottish forests, and the Welsh Assembly has said it will keep forests in public ownership.

Vale - Alistair Hulett

Alistair Hulett – arguably one of the more impressive socialist folk musicians of our time – died on Thursday evening, January 28, 2010 (approximately 5:30am on Friday morning, 29 January 2010, Sydney time), in Ward 26a of Southern General Hospital, Glasgow.
  
Alistair had been critically ill and in hospital since the New Year, but it was largely kept quiet from friends and fans alike as he waited for a liver transplant for what was mistakenly diagnosed to be liver failure.  

It eventually became clear he was actually suffering from an aggressive metastic cancer that had already spread to his lungs and stomach. Unfortunately for Alistair, and all of us, he didn’t make it, dying only days after the cancer was discovered.