It's finally over. On Christmas Eve, when exhaustion from long haggling was about to set in, the British Prime Minister Boris Johnson declared, "We have taken back control of our laws and our destiny". His counterpart, the European Commission President, Ursula von der Leyen announced,  " It's time to leave Brexit behind". These two near simultaneous announcements came following a free-trade agreement that took almost a year to finalise. The deal makes Britain a third country like any other outside the European Union, but grants tariff and quota-free access to the USD 668 billion single market. But, claiming sovereignty has a cost and Britain had to agree to a mechanism, with arbitration and possible tariffs for violations that would keep its regulations and subsidies roughly in line with those of Brussels, to prevent unfair competition. The deal will require inspection of goods to prevent smuggling, especially of live animals. The deal also covers many cruci...

  It is probably the first time that the House of Commons recorded a statement by a cabinet member that a legislation brought by the government of Great Britain will breach international law. In a new normal setting of the British parliament, where Covid-19 health rules imposed limits on the physical presence of MPs and ministers, the extent of the shock was beyond anyone ’ s guess. However, despite quite a significant dissent within the Treasury bench, Prime Minister Boris Johnson remains unmoved. Five predecessors, three from the Conservatives—John Major, David Cameron and Theresa May—and two Labour ex-PMs—Tony Blair and Gordon Brown—in unison decried the legislation, saying it would damage "trust" in the UK and its standing in the world.   The aim of the amendment is to change parts of the EU withdrawal agreement, negotiated last year. Northern Ireland Secretary Brandon Lewis on September 9 told the House that the new bill would break international law in a “ specific...

One would not expect, at the least in Western democracies, to see people taking to street, immediately after a new prime minister takes office with a landslide mandate. But, it had happened in Britain. On the evening of the 13 th of December, barely few hours after returning to 10 Downing Street from seeing the Monarch and getting assent to form a new government, PM Johnson had to endure chanting by hundreds of  protesters outside calling for an end to Tory rule. Most notable thing was the dominance of the angry youth among those protesters. If pre-election opinion polls are to be believed, which predicted the Tory landslide too well, then the overwhelming majority of the young had not voted for Johnson’s premiership. The 12th December election was a gamble that Johnson has won with his instinct that he can exploit the frustrations of a larger populace over Brexit. He made it a single issue election and campaigned on the message ‘Get Brexit Done’. He, therefore, chose to kee...