#Glow shift plus

Realism and dialogue are in evidence elsewhere too. Johnson’s plans to axe 91,000 civil servants by the end of the parliament have been subtly watered down by Cabinet Office Minister Nadhim Zahawi. To be fair, there are signs of a Truss realism quietly emerging in key areas. The past few weeks have in many ways been a tale of two Trusses: hard-headed yet nuanced diplomacy shown to other countries, but bone-headed and dismissive radicalism shown to her own MPs. Yet for many Tory MPs who have been quietly impressed by Truss’s recent shift towards hard-headed pragmatism on Northern Ireland and the EU, the contrast with her ideological experiment of unfunded tax cuts could not be more stark.

She’ll have shown to a domestic UK audience that she is a “deliverer” in a way that Boris Johnson never was. With US President Joe Biden making clear he wants progress well before the 25th anniversary of the Good Friday Agreement next year, Truss’ relations with the White House would get a boost too.Īnd if Truss can somehow get a deal on Northern Ireland’s post-Brexit future, she won’t just help those directly involved. Both sides think there is a “landing zone” in which the Protocol can be reformed and months of stalemate can be ended. On the thorny topic of the jurisdiction of the European Court of Justice, senior EU sources stress there are “creative solutions”.Ī “tunnel” of confidential negotiations may not yield immediate results, but a lasting deal is within reach thanks to technological progress and political give-and-take.

In what appeared to be a calculated response to the new openness, Irish Deputy PM L eo Varadkar offered his own olive branch, declaring “the Protocol as it was originally designed was a little too strict” in the way it imposed checks on goods travelling across the Irish Sea.Įven the DUP sound more open to a practical solution, with leader Jeffrey Donaldson careful to tell his own party conference last weekend that he wished the EU and UK “well” in new talks expected later this week. In one of the few positives of the entire Tory conference, Baker was reflecting a wider attempt by the Government to re-engage on the vexed issue of the Northern Ireland Protocol, which governs post-Brexit trade arrangements between the province and the rest of the UK. The thawing in relations with EU states had already been in the air when Northern Ireland minister Steve Baker issued a personal apology to his Irish counterparts for the way Brexiteers like himself had failed to take into account the EU’s “legitimate interests” in the past. Finally confirming the French President was indeed a strong ally, she added: “We are both very clear.

The PM also had to gently retract her jibe at Macron during the Tory leadership campaign, when she said “the jury is out” on whether he was a friend or a foe. In Europe, but not run by Europe, as William Hague may have put it. Having earlier this summer told MPs that she didn’t “buy into” the idea of Macron’s new group, here she was basking in the warm glow of global respect (with suggestions the UK may even host the next meeting). But the very fact that she attended at all was telling. Truss was careful to stress that the meeting was “not about moving closer to Europe”. “ is an island, but this island didn’t move from the continent,” he said. Even French President Emmanuel Macron, who drove the creation of the new grouping, was beaming. “It’s great to have her here,” Belgian PM Alexander De Croo added. “I really want to compliment Liz Truss for the British leadership ,” said Dutch PM Mark Rutte.

#Glow shift plus

In Prague for the first meeting of the “European Political Community” (ECP), a gathering of 27 EU states plus 17 regional neighbours to discuss issues like energy and migration, the Prime Minister was back on the international stage and appeared to enjoy every minute of it. Last week, the day after her bruising Tory party conference ended, Liz Truss got some brief but welcome respite from her political woes.