Instant Opinion: ‘This may be Leavers’ last chance to achieve a proper Brexit’

The Week’s daily round-up highlights the five best opinion pieces from across the British and international media, with excerpts from each.

1. Allister Heath in The Daily Telegraph

on Boris Johnson's Brexit deal

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This may be Leavers’ last, realistic chance to achieve a proper Brexit

“My plea to the Spartans, the DUP and the Brexit Party is simply this: assuming that I’m right and that Boris hasn’t secretly surrendered on regulatory harmonisation, please think very carefully before you reject any new deal that Mr Johnson brings back. He is on your side, not against you, your best possible ally and last realistic hope. How much better do you think it could get? And if he can’t get it through now, wouldn’t Mr Johnson campaign on this deal when an election is finally held? And if, instead, he is destroyed, don’t you think we could yet end up with a Remainer government?”

2. Stephen Bush in the New Statesman

on Labour’s electoral strategy

Labour believes its best chance to win an election is to have reached a Brexit settlement

“Many Conservative MPs believe that if they can get Brexit done, and done quickly, it is Labour that stands to benefit. There’s no doubt that an election, with Brexit out of the way, would suit the Labour leadership. Unnoticed by most of the press, Jeremy Corbyn is already aggressively fighting the election he wants. He is attending big rallies around the country that are in effect set up for social media and televised broadcast clips. As at the last election in 2017, when Corbyn was careful to visit each ITV region, broadcasting is the key consideration in choosing where to campaign and when, not whether a seat is winnable or safe. The policies and methods are straight from his 2017 playbook: big populist offers promising economic transformation for the country.”

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3. Kuba Shand-Baptiste in The Independent

on the problem with Extinction Rebellion

Extinction Rebellion's hapless stance on class and race is a depressing block to its climate justice goal

“Environmental issues are human issues; are class issues; are race issues. They have been aggravated and created by the structures we’ve wrongly come to think of not just as irreplaceable but as intrinsic to the survival of the world: capitalism, colonialism, the patriarchy. As such – and as has long been said and shown by the indigenous communities too often left out of mainstream discussions – it must be tackled with those barriers firmly in mind. But it doesn’t always feel like this is the approach that some parts of XR take when it comes to the action pursued. In fact, it seems to be the total opposite.”

4. Frances Ryan in The Guardian

on public spending cuts

By ending the free TV licence, the Tories are closing a vital window on to the world

“The issue with the TV licence support scheme has never been that it is too generous, but that it is not quite generous enough. Disabled and chronically ill people of working age can be just as likely to be isolated because of poor health and poverty, but they don’t get the same support as their older counterparts. I’ve spoken to several disabled people in recent years who have had to give up their television because they could no longer afford the licence, often owing to having their disability benefit cut. Already isolated, their only social lifeline was removed. You only have to talk to those who have been caught without a TV licence to know the system too often essentially criminalises people for being poor, unwell or even illiterate.”

5. Gerard Baker in The Times

on Donald Trump

Republicans won’t turn their backs on Trump

“The challenge for Republicans with the Trump presidency has always been primarily this: he is uniquely disliked by voters, but many of those who despise him like what he’s done. For Republicans this demands an awkward straddle: full support for the Trump presidency, while voicing occasional disapproval of the president. When he does things they disagree with, like in Syria, it creates political space for them to distance themselves from the man a little. When, as remains likely, they vote to keep him in office, they can do so without looking as though they are in his pocket. They actually need moments like this so they can have their cake and eat it: they have a president who mostly does what they want and don’t get too much of the tarnish he trails through Washington on their own political clothes.”