LAST week the Tories went tonto over Gibraltar.
Michael Howard was on national television threatening the Spanish with war for even thinking about going anywhere near the Barbary macaques-riddled tax haven that will forever be a part of the Empire.
It took the Prime Minister over 24 hours to distance herself from her predecessor’s remarks. Even then there were plenty of other Tories lining up to volunteer their constituents for conscription in the great Brexit battle with the Spanish Armada.
While that raged on, many pundits pointed out that Gibraltar’s future had generated more passion, more attention, more focus and more commitment from the UK government in one week than the constitutional problems of Northern Ireland had received in the last year.
It was 19 years ago this week when Northern Ireland’s political parties signed the Good Friday Agreement.
And for the first time sine that day in 1998, there is a real chance of the UK Government taking back control of the government in Stormont.
Talks aimed at restoring the power-sharing government have stalled. Again.
James Brokenshire, the Tory Northern Ireland secretary, has pushed back the deadline to 18 April, in a bid to try and find consensus from two sides entrenched.
Brokenshire said this could be the last chance before snap elections or direct rule from Westminster: “All the parties have been actively engaged and some further progress has been made, including on the formation of an executive and on legacy.
“There is, however, still a lack of agreement between the parties on a small but significant number of issues.
“The restoration of devolved government remains achievable, but more time and a more focused engagement on the critical issues are required. The parties will have a final opportunity after Easter to reach agreement, building on the discussions which have taken place over the past six weeks.”
The stumbling blocks are an Irish language act that would give Irish parity with English. This would mean, among other proposals, a person could have their court case heard entirely in Irish.
Then there’s legacy.
How does the the government deal with the legacy of the Northern Ireland Troubles?
And within that, how much historical information are the government, police and security services prepared to put into the public domain.
Sinn Féin wants an independent arbiter to make the final decision on what level of detail should be made available to the families of victims of the Troubles.
The Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) disgaree.
Then there’s Brexit, same sex marriage, and Arlene Foster, the DUP’s leader.
The cause of the deadlock was the snap election at the start of March that saw the Unionist majority in Stormont come to an end, with the DUP’s lead over Sinn Féin was cut from 10 seats to one.
That election was caused by Foster’s tenure as First Minister and her role in the “cash for ash” scandal, where staggering bureaucratic incompetence saw an environmental scheme cost the government millions.
There’s little love lost between the two main parties.
Sinn Fein say if the talks fail there should be another snap election.
The DUP say Sinn Fein are asking for too much, in the hope the talks to fail.
Brokenshire has said if no agreement can be reached next week, he would have to implement legislation that would see London devolving powers directly to councils.
The Northern Ireland secretary said: “I have already indicated that I will introduce legislation to set this year’s regional rate to address the urgent need for rates bills to be issued by councils. In addition, I believe it is also right to introduce provisions that would enable an executive to be formed in early May should agreement be reached.”
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