This evening Theresa May heads over to Strasbourg in the final push to get something out of EU officials before the meaningful vote in Parliament tomorrow. Her chances of success on all fronts are pretty low and it is likely that the best outcome over the next week is for an extension to the negotiating period.

The sticking point has been the so-called Irish backstop whereby the border between the North and the South of Ireland would remain open. In theory both sides want this but the UK’s attitude towards the customs union has operated against this common ground. Furthermore the current back-and-forth shows a complete disregard for the Good Friday Agreement that established peace in the North after years of violence and unrest.

The agreement is only 20 years old and should not be taken for granted. Earlier this year a bomb went off in Derry and violence regularly erupts in bursts across the six counties. Nevertheless it sometimes feels like the UK government is pushing its luck as far as it can whether that is on Brexit, devolved government or the Conservatives deal with the DUP.

In the past week another line was crossed when Karen Bradley, the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, made the insensitive and demonstrably false comment that the deaths caused by police and soldiers during the Troubles were not crimes. Despite this she remains in post even as the decision on whether or not to prosecute the perpetrators of the Bloody Sunday massacre is to be announced in the next few days.

This week on the podcast we look at another failure of the government to face up to the past and secure peace in Northern Ireland. Pat Finucane was murdered in his own home thanks to assistance provided by British security forces. Nearly 30 years have passed and yet there has still been no inquiry into what happened. His widow has now brought a case in judicial review on human rights grounds and is demanding answers and finally some semblance of justice.

Episode link:https://uklawweekly.com/2018-uksc-7/
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