Sunak’s EU handling has granted him some authority as ‘a problem-solver’

AS THE international news cycle moves on relentlessly, its spotlight is also always changing. In Britain during the last two weeks, the UK government’s new proposals agreed with the European Union for settling Northern Ireland’s postBrexit trading arrangements dominated the front pages.

Then, almost overnight, the subject of immigration took over the top spot as Prime Minister Rishi Sunak announced proposals to tackle it as one of his government’s priorities. But, before writing today about this endlessly controversial issue, I mention first the wider implications of the proposed new Northern Ireland agreement which I referred to in last week’s column. It seems to me that these are twofold: a change in UK/EU relations and the effect on Mr Sunak’s premiership.

Sadly but inevitably, since no member state had previously withdrawn voluntarily from the EU, Britain’s decision to leave the bloc following its Brexit referendum in 2016 resulted in lengthy wrangling and ill-tempered negotiations with Brussels.

It is now widely recognised that the latter displayed a mix of intransigence and non-cooperation in making