Before they were bussed off to Windsor last Thursday for a fun-filled away day on how to approach the next general election, many Conservative MPs believed a corner might just have been turned in their party’s fortunes.
Rishi Sunak appeared to have pulled off a remarkable success with his deal on the Northern Ireland protocol. The newspapers had been full of stories suggesting the prime minister might be about to betray the Brexit ers and sell out the Democratic Unionist party (DUP). And they were raising questions about how Boris Johnson, still furious over Sunak’s role in ousting him from No 10 last summer, might exploit this moment of maximum danger to advance his own plans for a sensational comeback to Downing Street.
The choreography of the European Commission’s president Ursula von der Leyen’s visit to unveil the Windsor framework alongside the prime minister was intended to show that the Sunak government was approaching European negotiations differently from the days of the confrontational Johnson leadership. The UK and EU were now friends and partners after Brexit, no longer implacable foes.
In his statement to the Commons later last Monday, the prime minister was meticulous in explaining the detail of the joint UK-EU plan, particularly its surprise rabbit-out-of-the-hat element: the proposal for a “ Stormont brake ” that would allow a power-sharing Northern Ireland government to veto new EU laws it did not like.
Denne historien er fra March 10, 2023-utgaven av The Guardian Weekly.
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Denne historien er fra March 10, 2023-utgaven av The Guardian Weekly.
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Starlink's conquest of the Amazon leaves Brazil in a dilemma
The helicopter swooped into one of the most inaccessible corners of the Amazon rainforest. Brazilian special forces commandos leaped from it into the caiman-inhabited waters below.
Dalai Lama's mountain town feels the strain of tourist boom
SUVs and saloon cars pass slowly along McLeod Ganj's narrow one-way Jogiwara Road, blaring horns at pedestrians and scooter riders and playing loud music.
'I am all the world' The brutal rule of a West Bank settler
Palestinians tell ofblacklisted Yakov's reign across the Jabal Salman valley and heisjust one of many violent bosses
Stormy waters New flashpoint emerges in South China Sea dispute
Hopes that tensions in the South China Sea might ease have been short lived.
'Justice delayed' Why trust in public inquiries to bring closure is fading
After the final report of the Grenfell fire inquiry was published, Hisam Choucair, who lost six family members in the blaze, said: \"We did not ask for this inquiry... It's delayed the justice my family deserves.\"
Celeriac soup with almond pangrattato
I'm not ashamed to say that as soon as September hits, my stick blender comes out. Just as I embrace salads when the clocks go forward in the UK, I wholeheartedly throw myself into soup season once the summer holidays end. Autumn is approaching in the northern hemisphere and I'm ready with my ladle. Celeriac is one of my favourite soup heroes, because it gives the creamiest, silkiest finish with little effort. You don't have to make the almond pangrattato, but it is a wonderful addition.
Are smoke signals telling me to make an oil change in the kitchen?
Should you that is, not can you) cook with extra-virgin olive oil? Antonio, Atlanta, Georgia, US
Going underground
A darkly humorous encounter between an American spy-cop and the members ofan eco-commune she is hired to infiltrate
All work and no play
Hard Graft, a powerfulnew London exhibition, focuses onworkers’ exploitation, from the ruined hands ofa washerwoman to mothers forced to sell their bodies
What the princess and the shaman tell us about hereditary privilege
It should have been an Instagram-perfect wedding image, but it turned out to be something more embarrassing.