I'm Professor of EU law at the University of Bristol Law School, and have written extensively on the UK Government's approach to Brexit
The turn in the polls has been sudden – but Phil Syrpis does not think it is a surprise to see Tory fortunes plunge under new PM Truss. I’ll offer four reasons why they are on the slide; each alone would have an impact, together they are devastating. The only place to start is with […]
Johnson’s ‘deep state’ conspiracy theory has, quite rightly, attracted a lot of negative comment. This article identifies some of the collisions his government has had with people and institutions who stand in its way. This government has consistently acted against people and institutions which seek to subject government action to scrutiny and accountability. Here are […]
This shouldn’t need saying again, but in view of the media coverage of the NI Protocol, perhaps it does. The problems are not caused by the NI Protocol, but by this particular form of hard Brexit. While the UK and Ireland were both part of the EU and the EU single market, it was possible […]
The dismissal of (eg) John Major’s comments, on the grounds that he is a remainer, is one more reminder of how the shadow of the Brexit vote still casts a shadow over our politics. It hardly needs saying that there are many reasons to be concerned about the Johnson government. They have been obvious for […]
Jury trials are the latest in a long list of things which have displeased the government. Its reaction looks like it is following a familiar – grim – pattern. Phil Syrpis explains. Every time ‘events’ prompt an institution, beyond the direct control of the government, to take a course of action which displeases the government, […]
The debate about ‘levelling up’ prompts this summary of the Johnson government. The Johnson government excels at ‘sloganeering populism’: ‘Get Brexit Done’, ‘Global Britain’, ‘Freedom Day’… and now ‘Levelling up’. The rhetoric projects energy and is meant to show a governmentt devoted to ‘the people’s priorities’. Behind the rhetoric, one might hope for some substance, […]