The Protocol was cobbled together at speed to get Brexit done, on the understanding that it would need clarifying and improving and was temporary. The EU is now seeking to take the agreed proposition that the UK would work to ensure no goods that failed to conform to EU rules would find their way to the Republic from NI and turn it into the EU’s wish to make NI a full and permanent member of the EU single market to the exclusion of parts of its GB/NI trade. This was not agreed, and the loose language of the Protocol allows different interpretations. Some at the time said NI would “get the best of both worlds” being both a member of the UK’s internal market and of the EU’s single market.
Let us take this to a practical level. It is for example about the sausage. Let us suppose the UK comes to have different rules about sausages from EU rules, though for the time being the UK is still using the EU rules it has rolled over into UK law anyway. A British standard banger should be able to move freely from GB to NI to be sold in an NI shop to an NI customer without hindrance. Similarly the UK would be happy for an EU standard sausage to be imported from the Republic and sold in an NI shop.
If a reseller of sausages started to buy sausages from the NI shop with a view to reselling them in a Republic of Ireland shop, the UK authorities would take action to stop such a movement, as that would be a violation of the EU’s single market rules. Were any to get through the UK authorities would notify the EU authorities to take action at the second retailer in the Republic. One way or another the EU’s single market would be safeguarded against the wandering sausage. The way the EU is wanting to act, it is seeking to stop a UK supermarket chain simply routing high quality UK food from GB to NI for sale in an NI shop. The EU always said it accepted that the UK had every right to its own internal market and understood that included NI.
The UK government has been all too tolerant of the extreme interpretations the EU is trying to impose on the situation. The UK has put various ways of proceeding by agreement to the EU, always offering complete support for their stated aim of keeping certain non EU produce out of the EU. The EU has also said it is concerned about relations between the communities of NI, yet its actions are designed to antagonise the Unionists be seeking to break some of their legitimate links to GB. It is time for the UK to make a further move to resolve the impasse by enforcing our internal market movements.
July 13, 2021
Good morning.
“Make in haste and repent at leisure.”
I have grown tired of the excuses as why this and that. The government had 4 years to deliver. We were told that it was our decision and that they, the government, would abide by what we wanted. What we have is nothing what I believed we could have got, and we owe this to the Remainers. Such petulance !
I have no confidence in this government or any part of the Establishment regards this matter. It is going to be a running sore and, I honestly think things will only change once the men of violence begin to take over.
July 13, 2021
How true. Johnson has spun a tissue of âliesâ to get elected and the reality is now causing massive problems. Trust on this and the wider divergence issues is zero.
Maybe he and his acolytes believe the stream of guff he spouts, but outside the bubble, not a chance.
July 13, 2021
Mark I fear you are right.
July 13, 2021
This is the “oven-ready deal” that the public in 2019 were told would “get Brexit done”. It was negotiated by Frost and Johnson. Leavers need to take responsibility, own this mess and stop blaming those of us who wanted no part of the whole sorry shambles.
July 14, 2021
I too had no part in this shambles.
July 14, 2021
If you voted Conservative in December 2019, you did. This shambles is the oven ready deal
July 14, 2021
I didn’t, not least because I didn’t trust Boris Johnson.
July 14, 2021
Peter P, I too had no part in this shambles. I have been advocating that the UK should walk away from the EU, in order to use WTO trading rules, since 2013. The reason? Because the EU cannot be trusted.
July 14, 2021
In what way can the EU not be trusted? The EU agreed a deal with Mrs May, but that deal did not get through the UK parliament. So then EU then agreed a different deal with Boris, one which accepted checks on trade between GB and NI (so as to avoid checks on trade between Ire and NI, which no one wants). That deal got through the UK parliament, having been approved as the oven-ready deal at the last General Election. And now Boris & Frost, who negotiated the deal, are refusing to implement it. The only lack of trust here belongs with the Uk side
July 13, 2021
The reason for which we are in such a mess is that Johnson chose to appease the wrong, minority wing of the Conservative Party – who are effectively ukip – and their voters, along with Farage’s, and also in complete negation of the claims made by the likes of Hannan as to what brexit would mean re the Single Market etc.
Yes, the simple slogan got him a majority, but it has catastrophically damaged the country.
The least that John and the rest of the brexit puritans can do is to admit their central role in this utter débùcle.
July 14, 2021
Utter debacle is right. Is there even ONE SINGLE Brexit promise that has not been broken ?
July 14, 2021
Martin, We voted to Leave, not to remain partly under EU control. Note “we” means a majority of those who voted in the Referendum 2016 in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. Note: “Leave” had no caveats about remaining partly under the EU’s control.
July 14, 2021
MiC
If he had actually appeased to the wing of the party you claim, then we would have left without a deal and carried on using WTO rules for trade.
PS
Lord Hannan said access to the single market not membership.
You twist the meaning of his words.
July 13, 2021
Yes, Mark, they did have four years. The Cameron government did promise to implement what we voted for, but Cameron ran away from his promise and deserted. I think you may have forgotten that for a lot of that time we had a Remain government and parliament doing their utmost to frustrate the will of the referendum with notable traitors (there really is no other word) even visiting Brussels to try to stymie the negotiations and making common cause with the EU against the decision of the British people. Many have now gone for their pains. True, we have got BRINO, not Brexit, but a couple of years ago who would have bet we would have even that? We still have 5th columnists in government and parliament to deal with, but we will in due course. This government cannot last forever. We must seek better people, how with the odds stacked against the people by parliament I do not yet know, but the people always prevail in the end.
July 13, 2021
Well Boris isn’t going to tear up the NI Protocol, as he signed it. Labour are a joke and won’t threaten his premiership any time soon. Plus the NI unionists aren’t woke enough for them.
With all political means denied to them, the NI unionists’ only recourse is violence. The UK government will eventually do something, but only after lots of statements of the kind “We don’t give in to violence.”
July 14, 2021
Agree the penny will drop and the Unionist will come to the conclusion that the only way to get this matter addressed – actions rather than words might be to bring their more violent measures to the UK mainland – Boris will have brought it upon himself.
July 13, 2021
@Mark,
Voters also have a responsibility not to be naive.
Sovereignty is a GREAT thing and the default position. But like everything good and challenging in life it has to have: 1) a proper, detailed, long-term plan 2) a strong leader, who really believes in this, to implement 3) enough financial and other resources as back up
All of these were missing in Brexit. To deny this is naivity (I know some get angry when I see this – but they are just being frustrated that I am pointing out the REALITY of the situation).
July 13, 2021
Also, Brexit is meant to unite with a positive, JOYFUL vision for the future, united with things like developing a strong spirit of enterprise, strong arts and culture, strong family and community life etc – stronger sense of patriotism overall. But the reverse has happened. You get people carping at each other.
Brexit CAN succeed – and succeed well. But we need more planning, more leadership, more resources, more positive vision.
July 13, 2021
The brilliant psychologist Carl Jung said that every man needs the King archtype (which is basically a leader) in him and every woman needs the queen archtype in her to do well in life in general as well. The problem is we have lots of people who are ambitions for our country but we don’t have the Kings (and Queens) or leaders to implement all these ambitious goals (such as Brexit).
Be great that if all the strong Brexiters in the comments on this site actually tried to become Kings themselves, and join Parliament to try and do something about Brexit, instead of commenting from the side lines.
I think Brexit is a great thing in theory but until our politicians act more like Kings (instead of Shadow Kings) then Brexit is just going to really struggle and will just be a complete anti-climax after everything everyone’s been through.
July 14, 2021
http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/static/vote2001/results_constituencies/constituencies/389.stm
July 14, 2021
OK, apologies for banging on about Jung – will stop .. (but it is important – every politician should be made to read Jung’s archetype on The King – and briefly study the life of Cyrus the Great – the greatest political leader in history, I’d argue, at least who is so universally popular whether in our Judaeo-Christian and Greco-Roman world (Alexander the Great was obsessed by Cyrus), but also in the world of Persia and the Middle East.
July 13, 2021
That’s not really very good comment. It wasn’t just the UK Government that had four years. The EU acted in a very obstructive way throughout the negotiations and they managed to run down the clock so that things had to be concluded in a rush. This was a deliberate EU strategy.
July 14, 2021
Part of having a strong plan / leader is precisely so that we’re able to deal with the antics of the opposition. The same applies to business, the military and so many other areas of life. Complaining isn’t enough, it won’t deliver effective results – unless it is part of proper plan and directed by a strong leader. But Brexit – a GREAT idea in theory – lacks a proper plan / strong leader. And more. Brexit can still succeed – and succeed well – but not unless it follows these common-sense principles.
July 13, 2021
Sir John,
40 odd years in the EU, with many experienced insiders on government staff knowing full well how the EU bureaucrats work, and your government produces and agrees this contract, that should never have seen the light of day. Don’t blame the EU, this is Bunter Boris’s cock-up, so own it and fix it.
July 13, 2021
+1
July 13, 2021
But also those MPs who went along with his nonsensical plan should own it and act to fix it.
They were told that the EU’s court would continue to reign supreme in Northern Ireland, page 53 here:
https://researchbriefings.files.parliament.uk/documents/CBP-8713/CBP-8713.pdf
“The parties have also agreed that there will be ongoing Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) jurisdiction over UK actions with regard to EU law in Northern Ireland, that relevant EU law will have the effects it currently has (e.g. direct effect) in Northern Ireland … ”
This if I search for “Court of Justice of the European Union” in the text of the revised protocol:
https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/840230/Revised_Protocol_to_the_Withdrawal_Agreement.pdf
I find six references, the last of which is in Article 13(2):
“Notwithstanding Article 4(4) and (5) of the Withdrawal Agreement, the provisions of this Protocol referring to Union law or to concepts or provisions thereof shall in their implementation and application be interpreted in conformity with the relevant case law of the Court of Justice of the European Union.”
So the UK government and Parliament agreed that the protocol would mean whatever the EU said it meant, and just how stupid was that in the light of decades of experience as a member state?
July 14, 2021
Denis, Thank you for those quotes and references – I have used them in a letter to my (Tory) MP. Keep up the good work.
July 13, 2021
As I say repeatedly, you are going to hear far, far more about the European Union from now on than you ever did while the UK was a member, and there is no end in sight to this.
That is exactly for what you voted.
Rejoice.
July 14, 2021
No, Martin, I voted to Leave. There were only two options: to Leave entirely; or to Remain under the semi-detached conditions negotiated by David Cameron. Everybody who voted had to choose one or the other.
July 14, 2021
So what of Hannan’s – and others prominent Leavers – claim that “no one” was thinking of leaving the Single Market?
Many trusting types voted Leave on that basis, surely?
Reply I always made clear we wanted to leave the single market, as did the official LeAve campaign.
July 13, 2021
No, this was a negotiation, as we all saw. The EU deliberately slowed down the negotiations and now we see what they were up to. They wanted things to be as last minute and as loosely worded as possible, and now they are taking advantage of that.
July 13, 2021
It takes two parties for a negotiation. We were incompetent/duplicitous from the outset under May, but at the end all we had to do was say ‘not good enough’. Bunter folded when he should have stood up, and now we have bigger problems.
July 14, 2021
Bunter Boris who effectively tipped the balance from a loss to a win for Brexit. Bunter Boris who isn’t a strong leader and certainly isn’t a true Brexiter. But that’s not his fault. He’s just doing his thing. Brexit is a GREAT thing in theory – but requires a strong leader who really believes in it, with a strong plan and positive vision that lots of people can rally around. It also needs strong financial resources to help plug the gap when problems arise whilst making the transition from one economic model to another (not completely different but enough to impact our economy in the short term).
July 13, 2021
Totally agree with the last line, however the total lack of any attempt to achieve the much trumpeted divergence opportunities gives the game away.
The latest look both ways on Covid is typical of a jelly spined Johnson and NI is no different.
July 13, 2021
The Government are absolutely right to ease the lockdown at this stage, just as schools are breaking up for the summer holidays
While the term is not being used, we are approaching the time when “Herd Immunity” will be achieved.
We cannot go on with draconian restrictions for much longer and our economy must be helped to get back to growth as soon as possible.
July 14, 2021
‘jelly spined Johnson’ – he tipped the balance from a loss to win for Brexit. And as Brexiters knew from before the Referendum, Boris never really believed in Brexit. To think otherwise is just nativity.
I’m a strong believer in Brexit in theory. But it requires leadership, planning, vision and resources. Those who complain of people such as Boris are just being naive and/or just indulging in idealism about how this world works. Great changes in this world require strong leadership, planning, vision and resources. If people really do want these great changes, then we need more people in politics, who really believe in Brexit, and have the power, skills and influence to make it work, instead of armchair critics. Brexit can work and work well but only if it follows the basic principles of how to succeed at anything challenging in life – whether in business, the military – or politics. The principles are all the same essentially.
July 13, 2021
It is perfectly obvious that the EU are trying to totally exclude NI from the UK internal market. How else can they ban UK goods and medicines from another part of the UK?
By all means try the ‘diplomatic method’ but you know it will fail, so scrap it! We’ll take the consequences in order to be free of the EU. The alternatives (desired by the EU) would be even worse.
July 13, 2021
I tend to agree, We need to take a very firm line on this. Though the blame largely lies with Theresa May, Hillary BENN, BERCOW and all the remoaner traitors who were in parliament and many still are.
July 14, 2021
‘Weâll take the consequences in order to be free of the EU.’
– The reality of the situation is that an important % of this country don’t follow your passion for getting out of the EU. Yes, Brexiters won. But that’s just a numbers game compared to what people will actually tolerate in reality. I think Brexit is a GREAT thing in theory but it has to be based on reality not idealism. The reality being that you need a strong leader, plan, vision and resources for it to work properly. I’m not saying Brexit can’t work. It can. And I hope it does. But I am here to CHALLENGE (instead of complain) to say that it will only work well / properly, if it follows these basic principles of how to succeed at something really challenging – whether in business, the military – or politics.
July 13, 2021
Is this entire issue about trade? Of course not. What we are witnessing in real time is the destruction of the UK, its identity of Britishness and the demonisation of those who dared to vote for Brexit. That demonisation and criminalisation has accelerated under this utterly deceitful Johnson government
This dismantling agenda, well planned and executed started in 1990 and went warp speed in 1997. Both myopic parties are directly responsible for this most heinous of political crimes
The UK as we know it simply doesn’t exist in any meaningful sense. British values have been smashed into pieces by a vicious class of lunatics and psychotics with hate and resentment embedded in their souls. That process has accelerated under this government as they scramble and scurry desperate to appease any and every lobby and pressure group who have the ability to damage the Tory party’s vacuous reconstruction of itself as a left of centre, progressive entity. That’s opportunism of the most despicable kind
The Tory party had one opportunity to smash the pro-EU, Brit-hating fascists out of the park, they baulked at that opportunity fearful of upsetting the US and too appease the now powerful progressive lobby that is out of control as they seek the absolute subjugation of anyone who dare to oppose them
Your party has singularly failed to defend the very people who voted for you. I’d say that’s utterly unforgivable
July 13, 2021
The EU wants GB to continue following their rules hence them stating that the problem will vanish if we join the SM and CU. Eschewing a colony of Brussels.
If the government accepts this it will be a colossal act of betrayal. It will also negate any FTAs we negotiate.
They refuse equivalence on financial services so we should invoke article 16 and walk away.
Talking is going nowhere.
July 13, 2021
They have shot themselves in the head with equivalence. If Sunak is true to his word, (that remains to be seen with Boris in the background still regarding the EU as ‘friends’) we are now free to make our own rules for the benefit of our own financial services not shackled by the dead hand of the EU. They will rue the day they tried to bludgeon us in this matter.
July 14, 2021
We can make our own rules. And then we lose access to EU markets. The biggest markets by far for our service-based economy. You Brexiters are running out of feet to shoot yourself in
July 14, 2021
Tell me Len, how do nations like South Korea, Australia, America, China and many others, manage to trade with Europe whilst “making their own rules”
July 14, 2021
They trade, but subject to massive barriers (checks, paperwork, etc) – none of which our exporters faced before Brexit, all of which they face now. Costing our country money and jobs. Trouble is, none of you Brexiters ever understood how international trade works, and you still don’t
July 14, 2021
By doing only a tiny amount of it, in goods not services, and then in limited areas, compared to the UK hitherto.
Next?
July 14, 2021
Seem to successfully sell many billions worth of goods into the UK and Europe without following EU rules,regulations, directives and law. GF.
Have you GF or you
MiC ever imported or exported goods in Europe or the rest of the world?
EU paperwork and bureacracy is equal or worse that trading with non EU nations.
PS
“Next” you say MiC as if what you responded was correct.
You say” a tiny amount”..well check how many billions per year non EU nations sell successfully into the EU without allowing the EU to impose laws on them.
You are so wrong it is hilarious.
July 13, 2021
Indeed.
July 13, 2021
We are not going to get equivalrnce on anything so long as we continue to misbehave
July 13, 2021
I think I get it, instead of checking at the border, just wait for an issue to emerge, then deal with the rascal in due course. That would work. In fact this concepts could transform our lives. Instead of asking people to present tickets when they enter a Theatre or Stadium ..just let everyone in and then ,if an issue emerges deal with the rascal in due course. Why not just assume everyone entering the country has a right to do so , should any issue arise, deal with the rascal in due course ?
We would need some kind of wrongun recognising procedure, I favour looking out for bags that say “swag” on them ,and evils laughs ( hooo hoo ho ha ha aha …). Perhaps we can rely on the smugglers to adopt Piratical fashions , wooden legs , parrots …? Mere details; the principle is sound
Honestly I cannot imagine why the EU is being so difficult about this .
July 13, 2021
They clearly cannot even stop illegal drugs or immigrants getting into the EU (mainland EU or Eire) so an efficient sausage filtering border clearly will not and could not happen. It can only be done by fines & deterrents and not a sausage hunting border system.
July 13, 2021
We are talking about goods, not people; so the “rascal” would be a person who carried goods from Northern Ireland across the border into the Irish Republic knowing that the goods were prohibited under the laws of that other territory, which would for the foreseeable future be EU law, and who could be deterred from doing so beforehand by the knowledge that both EU/Irish and UK law provided civil and criminal penalties for that infraction. And preferably also the other way round, with the EU agreeing to help the UK to protect its internal market; but we could and should do our part even if the EU refused to do its bit.
A proposal put forward in August 2019 by Sir Jonathan Faull, but instantly dismissed by the EU:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-49488844
“EU officials have poured cold water on alternative proposals for the Brexit backstop by a former British European Commission official.
Sir Jonathan Faull had suggested the EU and UK could maintain their own customs and regulatory regimes while using their laws to protect each others’ markets.”
Interestingly during a recent internet discussion Lord Frost was asked how the Common Travel Area for people was managed to avoid illegal immigration and you can see his answer here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H7L7ICHjWWk&t=2622s
âThe way this works is by very close collaboration between UK and Irish authorities … it shows that you can in fact manage these legal differences, things that change when you move from one territory to another, without having processes at a border, they can be managed satisfactorily in other ways, and that is a real world proof of some of the points we are trying to make in a more theoretical way.â
You should take on board that it can be done “without having processes at a border”.
July 14, 2021
The EU dismissed it, Denis. End of story. You Brexiters love talking about how the UK can make UK laws for the UK without caring what anyone outside the UK thinks, then you seem astonished when the EU does the exact same thing
July 14, 2021
I know the EU dismissed it, I said so in the comment, just as they dismissed a similar proposal from the Ulster Unionists, but that is only the end of the story if the UK government is sufficiently feeble to allow the EU to have the last word.
July 14, 2021
Carson, I’m not astonished at all. In fact I predicted it. As did thousands of others, including most Leave commenters here.
July 13, 2021
You describe precisely the way the EU deals with goods that are imported from non-eu countries and opt to pay VAT at destination and not at port of entry. Such goods are liable (liable, it’s not universal) for inspection en route. The facilities exist throughout the EU to inspect non paid goods, up to and including X-raying entire containers.
The EU is just being difficult for the sake of it.
JF
July 13, 2021
Well.
Thankfully (because of people like you) we’re not letting many people in theatres so tickets aren’t a problem. And I bet working from home (WFM) hasn’t stopped you getting somewhere crowded and fun, possibly on a train too – despite them being ‘too dangerous’ to go to work on.
I hope the Morgan Stanley idea catches on here too.
“You what ? You expect City of London wages for working on a laptop in the garden – with an eye on the tennis – in Lewes ? Take a pay cut ! Oh. And the Government’s giving you a tax rise to pay for all the unemployment that’s coming.”
It is clear.
Remainers made Brexit a mess. May was a deliberate plant.
And lorry drivers and fruit pickers are a good example. We’ve had 5 years to get this sorted out but then Remainers didn’t think we were ever going to Leave until voters put their foot down and gave Get-Brexit-Done-Boris a thumping majority.
The Brexit vote was just as much about getting UK welfare shysters back to work as anything else.
What we’ve got is worse than Corbyn. Far worse. Boris has gone full 180 on us. And this latest bottle job on masks… a sop to the Left who have lost all the votes but are using Covid and BLM to keep all the power.
——-
The BBC wheel out *James* to tell us he’s got kidney transplants and for us to all wear masks for him “Do it for me.” so now all those who want to ditch them are villains. Well done Boris !
No *James*, you start wearing an N95 and let the rest of us be human beings again. Let us save our businesses and keep the suicide rates down.
July 13, 2021
Brilliant. Thanks.
July 13, 2021
Most things in life are dealt with as they happen as not every possibility is foreseen, although every man and his dog outside government could see where this one would lead. Johnson’s big mistake was that he thought he was dealing with normal rational people who would try to make things work, but all they have managed to do is find this one paltry item to light on and cause trouble. It will backfire on them yet again in the end. The border has been amicably dealt with for years before this childish debacle over sausages.
July 13, 2021
Well that is exactly how it has worked for nearly 25 years with regard to dealing eg with smuggling over the NI-SI border. It also works perfectly well in many other places around the world.
July 13, 2021
I doubt you have got it at all, if by chance you have you are distorting reality. Reality is that the only border is between NI and the Republic. Possibly because the Republic was once in the distant past a part of the UK we came to an amicable border arrangement to the effect that for anything legal it would not exist. This was so when the Republic became part of the EU. The border only existed for goods which were dealt with electronically. It is the EU who wish to turn the border into something more significant than it need be. Nobody else sees the need. To clarify what you cannot imagine, the EU are intent on dividing the UK and in so doing do not give a toss for the effect it might have on the GFA. That Newmania sums up how irresponsible they are and you think that a joke.
July 13, 2021
I can’t imagine why they wouldn’t be difficult about it. They were seriously miffed by our leaving and looking to cause us problems.
July 13, 2021
Otherwise known to grown-ups as childishness.
July 13, 2021
Not so the problem for us was that we didn’t get our own way. Some of us thought that the whole EU project was going to collapse.. not so
July 13, 2021
They want their presence in NI to be as obtrusive as possible, in the hope of gradually nudging NI towards unification. I think they are stupid to try, but you know how clever they think they are.
July 13, 2021
Why not ignore the Evil Empire and let Northern Ireland trade as it has always done? If that means the oven-ready deal is off, let that be understood before paying over the ÂŁ40 billion ransom.
The new CBAM trade levies mean UK firms will find it hard to export to the Evil Empire anyway and who is to say more such barriers will not be devised in the near future?
July 13, 2021
Indeed.
July 13, 2021
Yes, the Blockade went well, didn’t it?
Ration books everyone?
July 13, 2021
What is the extent of clandestine movement of British bangers southwards over the NI/ROI border? Would it be nil? There must be no interference with trade between GB and NI businesses.
July 13, 2021
Quite right. We have undertaken to advise the EU if we have good reason to believe that someone is smuggling goods that don’t meet EU standards into the EU from NI. Similarly, we would act on any information supplied by the garda about suspected smuggling activity that they may identify. That is the way that civilised democratic governments work. ‘Good reason’ is the key apart from, perhaps, the occasional spot check.
Incidentally, I understand that the EU is proposing to accept rendered meat in animal feedstocks and that some junior minister (for Biosecurity) in the House of Lords is proposing that we would accept this stuff for importation to the UK as it is cheaper. Wasn’t this the reason we had BSE and vCJD back in the 90s and our exports were of beef were blocked by several (all?) the EU countries, in some cases (principally the French) for a good many years. Perhaps we should refuse to buy this stuff as it doesn’t meet our food standards?
July 13, 2021
Moving goods, sausages or whatever, covertly from NI to the Republic or the opposite way is an illegal act and as such can be dealt with by the Guarda and RUC.
The NI Protocol is an EU constructed elephant trap being interpreted by them in extremis to drive a wedge into the UK and at the same time to act as a means of negating any advantages of Brexit. It is just one element in an EU punishment regime for having the temerity to leave their rotten construct. It has absolutely nothing to do with maintaining the Good Friay Agreement. The way the EU are interpereting it is in fact likely to have the opposite effect. This I see as an example of just how cynical they are. They see that regenerating civil war is a legitimate tool in achieving their goal.
It has reached a point of both ridiculousness and real danger such that it has to be halted by cancellation of the NI Protocol, a dangerous construction not fit for purpose.
In any treaty, trade agreement or relationship between neighbours the foundation must be goodwill. The UK has assumed that such has existed in the Brexit process because it makes sense to have a good working relationship between adjacent sovereign powers. It is time for the realisation that this is not the way the EU has wanted it, even if it goes against the interests of their member states. Time to spell out the consequences of their attitude both politically, and financially.
July 13, 2021
It was constructed jointly with the UK’s negotiators.
July 13, 2021
Very well said agricola.
July 13, 2021
Good Afternoon Agricola,
I don’t always agree wholeheartedly with some of your contributions but I certainly do with this one.
Well said! You have summarised my thoughts perfectly.
July 13, 2021
We must take NI fully out of the EU just like the rest of Great Britain. It is our responcibility! It must not be British responsibility to protect the eu, that is totally their problem and how they do that within the areas of the eu is not for Britain to worry or bother about.
They are grown ups and should act like one , not like petulant children.
July 13, 2021
MFD well isn’t that for the Northern Irish people to decide.
A border the EU demand is in the sea or a border on Ireland and no more EU passport or free movement within Ireland and visa versa?
We signed the thing, now is time to sort it out by whatever means we can to suit the people of Northern Ireland.
July 13, 2021
+1
July 13, 2021
Another self-inflicted wound, this time due to accepting the EU’s interpretation of the GFA. Perhaps this is where we should be concentrating our energies, as it’s clearer? If only they applied the same principles to their illegal trafficking in human contraband! It’s another example where we’ve succumbed to the continental principle of the presumption of guilt and shows what an uphill struggle it is to prove innocence.
Yet again, Mr Johnson has applied the exact same principle to Covid, where “freedom” for the masses holds a mountain of caveats to prove our “innocence”, including overstepping his remit with consent for the introduction of IDs. In tandem with this, the entire country has witnessed him exercising his privilege to enjoy genuine freedom by attending the Euros, no doubt gratis. Don’t get me wrong, he was entitled to do this, but his privilege still didn’t stretch to avoiding the virus, the basis for his continuing diktats. It’s not good enough on any level; it’s not caution, it’s not protecting anything, it’s cowardice, control and hypocrisy and I’m done with it all. I need to hear nothing more from the government than RELEVANT data (NOT manipulative case numbers/percentages, etc) so that I can make my own informed decisions, please. Apologies for (sort of) going off topic, but the man’s a fool and I’m furious.
July 13, 2021
Less than 4% of containers entering Rotterdam from the rest of the world are inspected.
Checks, if any, on goods entering NI from GB should similarly be on a risk-based approach. Only where the EU and GB regulations are different is there any risk at all, so inspections can be essentially zero.
How is Ireland going to prevent EU goods that donât comply with GB regulations from entering into NI from where they might be shipped to GB?
July 13, 2021
On the plus side, it is exceptionally funny.
July 13, 2021
The more the government continues to talk about this the worse it will get, we have had 4 years of talking, for goodness sake there is already a border between the Republic and Northern Ireland, everyone knows where it is, so either both sides ignore it, or they both agree what can cross it, or how it can be enforced AT THAT POINT, and that point only, with or without paperwork.
Why oh why do politicians always, but always want the most complicated solution instead of the most simple.
If both sides cannot agree, then both sides do as they Please AT THAT BORDER POINT.
July 13, 2021
I have recounted before my familyâs incident in Australia. Stopped at customs, dragged out of a line by armed guards, searched by agents who discovered a single, solitary apple at the bottom of my 10-year-old daughterâs bag. Fortunately a kindly border guard decided not to fine us the ÂŁ250 or so that such an offence usually incurs because she saw the 10-year-old – and her parents – were all completely distraught.
The Brexitists love Australia. They will tell you how wonderful it is. And yet here are the Australians threatening to fine a 10-year-old ÂŁ250 over a single apple crossing their border.
This is what a border is. A barrier for everything that crosses it – whether it is a person or an apple or a sausage. Considering that you are all weirdly obsessed with borders it is odd that you did not know this.
Borders are usually a completely pointless waste of time. They create hassle, pointless paperwork and major inconvenience. Why did you not all know this?
You voted to take back control of our borders. Actually we had control of our borders – our borders with the EU were largely open for goods but were not open for people. The people needed checks, the goods mostly didnât.
None of you understood this – you didnât like foreigners, assumed it was a border problem, and voted for your sausage mess.
It is tragic but funny. And it is all your fault.
July 14, 2021
andy
You will have incorrectly filled in a customs form stating that you have no food or fruit or seeds.
Then at the bottom of this form it says this is a legal declaration.
Then you signed it.
There are real reasons why the importation of these items can threaten bio security in Australia.
Many other nations have similar customs declarations for similar reasons.
As a frequent traveller and a big business owner and mature adult you should have realised the rules.
I have no sympathy for your failure to follow a few simple rules.
July 14, 2021
And what’s funniest of all, Andy, is that you cite examples of remaining EU control, and think it’s Leave.
July 13, 2021
There are rules about what can be sold in the EU’s market (as there are trading standards in the UK which at present adhere to EU thinking)
It is up to EU trading standards to ensure that goods on sale in the EU conform to its rules, with the amount of postal, and courier delivered E-commerce on the rise this is impossible to police anyway so the protocol is s sticking plaster which does not address the future.
The protocol should be abandoned and personal responsibility by traders encouraged. The EU, which likes to mandate all areas of life will not tolerate that.
The agreement should never have been passed by our Parliament and signed and our host and others can not hide behind The Protocol was cobbled together at speed to get Brexit done, on the understanding that it would need clarifying and improving and was temporary. Scrap the withdrawal agreement and move to WTO unless this protocol is ditched.
July 13, 2021
Since all this kicked off over NI and in general the EU has acted like some spoilt avenging child cumulated with all the comments over the Euro football, I think they have shown their true colours. It begs the question why are the government even bothering? They are pissing down our necks and telling us it’s raining. Enough is enough like in all divorces you get to the point of shutting the doors and getting on with your new life. Be firm be polite and tell them thank you but no thank you the second word is off. I don’t think our leader has the guts to stand up to them and tell them it’s over.
July 13, 2021
The EU, aided by the ardent Remainers, just want to punish us for Brexit and we should ignore their interpretation of the Protocol. The EU also sees it as a way to appease the poor treatment it gave its member state of Ireland during the negotiations by trying to over turn or get round the Good Friday Agreement.
Something is holding us back from telling the EU where to get off! I would suggest it is Macron threatening to shut Calais. We should call his bluff and watch the reaction of the other 26 states and the effect on his election prospects.
Trade will prevail so for heaven’s sake make a stand over the Protocol and tell the EU that it will only be implemented as we interpret it, or scrapped.
July 13, 2021
The EU uses agreements as a basis of future friction and vindictiveness.
We need to abandon the NIP, move the customs border to an electronic one at the Ni/RoI border, and stop paying the EU any more money.
July 13, 2021
Its time to get past Political Elite posturing. In simple terms NI is either in the UK or it is not – there can be no half way house.
The EU has to get over its own very individual personal egos. In a democracy all the laws and rules are made, amended and repealed by the people. Have the people of the UK voted to leave the UK – my understanding is they have not. So simples, a foreign colonial desiring empire needs to ‘but out’
What other free democratic foreign land takes its rules and laws from a remote undemocratic Trade Commission.
The EU Trade Commission is not a Government, its a unaccountable Trade Commission, it has no democratic mandate to dictate to a free democracy.
What ever happened to the the wonderful speeches during the WA negotiations that said there is no deal until all deals are sorted. So far the EU can trade into the UK but the UK is denied trading into the EU – to me that means in their own words there is still no deal. Time to walk
July 13, 2021
The EU, supported by Biden, see this as a way of forcing UK to join the EU single market and lock into all their rules in perpetuity. Given the lack of resolve of this government I assume they’ll be successful. Sooner rather than later if there is a return to terrorism.
July 13, 2021
Sausage is a bad example John – surely all meat will be banned or taxed out of existence under the Net Zero strategy ?
July 13, 2021
I am not at all surprised at the childish behaviour from the EU. They will stop at nothing to interrupt trade and business in the UK. They should have no say in matters concerning the UK. For goodness sake can we just stand up to these bullies for once and let businesses in the UK get on with what they do best? Nobody wants to see a resurgence in violence in NI. Boris will have blood on his hands. Sort it.
July 13, 2021
If the Protocol was written with very loose wording it was always going to cause trouble because of the desire to punish Britain so obviously displayed by Brussels, Merkel and Macron, aided and abetted by their hopeless lackey, Varadkar.
The whole thing was a put up job as everyone (expect Biden) knows that there was no risk whatsoever to their precious single market. You were right not to vote for it.
We now need to either ignore it and allow Brussels to do its worse, bearing in mid that any retaliatory action must be proportionate to their losses, in other words, nothing or close to nothing, or we declare under article 16 and offer to negotiate an alternative.
July 13, 2021
Northern Ireland Protestants used to outnumber the Catholics 2 to 1, nowadays it is about evens. The next election to the NI Assembly could likely yield a Catholic majority, most of the unionists population are over sixty and deceasing. The EU and the GB will keep the Protocol sausages sizzling on a low heat ’till the other side of those elections
July 14, 2021
The religious divide has never been less important, Acorn. The divide is one of nationalism. You know, the nationalism which the woke/left/Remains think shouldn’t matter. But does.
July 13, 2021
EU ideologues have built an empire out of bureaucracy. It’s cheaper, there’s less mess, and it can be done behind people’s backs. They’re not going to give up now. Why should they? Which is why the only way to really leave the EU empire is to walk away and use the universal WTO trading rules. It always was. Except the Conservative party never learns.
July 13, 2021
The ENTIRE point of the Protocol is to put a border between NI and GB. That is the ONLY difference between Borisâs deal and Mrs Mayâs. Are you seriously saying you failed to understand that when you supported it in the Commons in Jan 2020?
July 14, 2021
No, Len P, the Irish Sea border is not the ONLY difference. It’s not even the main difference. Theresa May would have kept the entire UK in the EU’s single market – a catastrophic concession, and clearly not Leave at all. Boris Johnson’s hasty part reversal ensures that at least GB leaves the EU – a crucial difference.
July 13, 2021
âThe UK government has been all too tolerant of the extreme interpretations the EU is trying to impose on the situation.â
That is the problem. The EU organisation will try it on when it perceives weakness.
It has been argued on here that Johnson now wants to regard Brexit as complete. He can then focus attention on globalist concerns to further his career post politics.
Meanwhile Lord Frost is left to talk tough so that it buys time and looks good in the media. Whereas all the extra time should have left us better prepared to move to a clean break on WTO terms but Johnson will not do that.
July 14, 2021
Peter
+1 Last two paragraphs spot on. Always has and been about hidden agendas.
July 13, 2021
As I recall, we left the EU to take back control of our borders, our laws and our money. We left, but now our politicians let the EU control us within our borders and appear ready to cede to EU demands that we pay them over ÂŁ40 billion. Why? Have you read M. Barnier’s recent book? The EU seek to punish us for leaving. So leave. Be free. Pay nothing more. Deal with the consequences of freedom and independence.
July 14, 2021
Walt, Just so.
July 13, 2021
It must be difficult for you John. We all know the feeling when the boss screws up and hasn’t listened to us, or a client doesn’t take your advice and guidance then isn’t happy with the result.
Your blog gives people the opportunity not to suppress or internalise their frustrations in a safe space. Unlike Twitter, it is not just a free for all to descend into the gutter with people intent to cause all sorts of mischief. Twitter has suspended ‘a number of accounts’ why can’t they tell us how many English accounts they have suspended for racism. You can’t set up a Twitter without a phone number, they know your location, enough about you to direct adverts to you but they claim not to be able to deal with some accounts why? How do we know they are not provocateurs just intent on politically motivated mahem? As that seems to be the goal. Just something else to slur English people with.
July 13, 2021
On a positive twist – small acts give people a more positive outlook – Boris needs to inspire us, tell us what he is doing right now moving forward to sort out free movement of goods to N.Ireland.
I thought that was what his deal for was to facilitate free movement of goods and trade, just what did the UK get in full from the agreement he signed?
What did we stop the EU from importing into the UK?
We are told Northern Ireland is costly to the UK, well why not make them self-sufficient and an exporter with their own more balanced trade, they don’t have problems moving their goods into Southern Ireland, the EU or the UK so maximise this and get them profitable and more people there into work and when they take their allocation of the asylum seekers they will have work ready for them. Open some of the sausage and food factories there, they are growing the meat in the first place. Let’s stop importing the same meats from the EU and if we can’t legislatively just tell the British public what these goods are and we’ll stop buying them and force our supermarkets to stop buying the products we can’t export into the EU from the UK because of this lopsided poorly drafted ‘deal’.
July 13, 2021
Sir JR,
The protocal has now been extended in trems of the meats for three months , to give time for mre negotiations to find a more permanent solution. Is this now the right time to suspend the protocol? Or are we being led by emotions on the EU again?
July 14, 2021
That’s not good enough bill. We give the EU the right to import their meats even though they are changing their rules on meat products that the UK doesn’t agree with. We need to end this imbalance and we have 2.5 months to do it to protect our chilled meat market. Get factories opened in N Ireland to pack the meat at its source as they can freely send the sausages to us and keep some for themselves. There is always a solution but is there a political will, it seems not so the British people need to sort this out themselves at the checkout.
July 14, 2021
Emotion is all Remains have got, Bill Brown.
July 13, 2021
‘Boris’ has been asked more than once by NI MPs for promises and assurances that the integrity of NI as part of the UK will be defended against incursions by the EU. He has answered in a form which gives the impression that he will take action to ensure this but the fact that he has had to be asked more than once indicates he is not thought reliable.
Nothing he says on any subject can be relied upon and NI is correct to fear that he will betray them, but not just them, as their betrayal will be ours too. Britain as a whole will be humiliated. He has had plenty of time to be take action to preserve our Union but he has done nothing but waffle. He will betray us, and then what will Sir John do. Will you continue your membership of your party? Or will you find a way of justifying remaining?
July 13, 2021
Here is the former Irish Prime Minister John Bruton replying to an article by Brandon Lewis and Lord Frost:
https://www.irishtimes.com/opinion/john-bruton-uk-ministers-need-to-read-the-ni-protocol-they-signed-1.4613290
He writes:
“These controls have to be enforced somewhere. This can be done either at a land border or at a sea border.
The UK ministers, writing in The Irish Times, say preventing a hard land border on the island of Ireland remains essential.
So, if the controls are not to be exercised on the land border in Ireland, where do the UK ministers propose to exercise them?”
It may recalled that Boris Johnson suggested that there could be a series of customs clearance sites on either side of the land border but set well back, but that proposal was rejected out of hand:
https://johnredwoodsdiary.com/2021/03/23/a-new-framework-for-our-economy/#comment-1217593
“âLabour leader Brendan Howlin described the plan as âentirely unacceptableâ, adding: âthatâs been the position since the beginning of these negotiations.â
He said: âI donât think anyone would table such proposals with a view to securing an agreement. No matter where you locate check sites â they amount to a hard border.ââ”
But if the check sites are located in the EU-specified Points of Entry into Northern Ireland to impede the five times greater flow of trade from Great Britain then that’s OK.
Lord Frost may understand that with close collaboration between the respective authorities in friendly states it is possible to regulate the flows of both people and goods âwithout having processes at a borderâ, but clearly John Bruton and others (including Theresa May, it should be said) have had very good reasons for not wanting to know about that and therefore we must be prepared to act unilaterally.
July 13, 2021
Robin Aitkin is surely right today in the telegraph:-
âThe BBC has demonstrated that it still doesnât get it
Possible appointment of Left-wing journalist to senior position exposes myth of its impartialityâ
So when is the government going to tackle this unfairly funded, left wing, woke, PC, climate alarmist organisation and the drivel it endlessly pushes? Sir Robbie Gibb says the Brammar appointment would shatter the Governmentâs âfragile trustâ in the BBC. It the Government still have a fragile trust in the BBC they are damn fools.
July 13, 2021
The price of your party’s rebranding exercise from a moral party of freedom, individualism, decency and civility to a Socialist, identarian entity to appease the race lobby and Labour’s Marxist media and academic hordes has now become prohibitive in terms of lost freedoms, attack on identity and pure bred slander and demonisation on an almost daily basis. And all because the Tory party chose the ideology of Critical Theory and CRT over humanity and dignity of person
When Tory party Ministers start using the term ‘Right wing’ then you know all is lost to the Marxist virus.
Cameron, May and Johnson. What have you done that you should expose law abiding people to a most vicious and poisonous form of POLITICS ie the Frankfurt School
Marxism is destroying this nation and its cohesion we once had. Their politics of race is causing terrible division
It is heartbreaking to see what Tory-Labour partnership is doing to our most wonderful nation
July 14, 2021
Dom, You are right.
July 13, 2021
Then again I suppose they can trust the BBC to echo the endless drivel this socialist government comes out with on the extended (net damaging) lockdown, the efficacy (net damaging again) of masks and all the endless unscientific climate alarmist and renewable ( v. expensive & unreliable) energy drivel they push endlessly.
July 13, 2021
The moral of this situation is that if you are up against experienced and clever EU negotiators, you need very sharp people indeed to negotiate with them. Unfortunately, we had Govey and his Lordship.
Johnson was desperate to “get Brexit done” . The EU adroitly exploited this imperative – and the result was an “Agreement” that will cause trouble for us in Ulster/Eire/EU for years to come.
July 14, 2021
Sakara, It wasn’t the sharpness of the negotiators so much as the desperation with which the UK establishment wanted a trade deal. The EU spotted that briefing error by the UK politicians and ran with it. Our negotiators had no chance.
July 13, 2021
The protocal is all smoke like the vote today in the HoC for the foreign aid…..the divide just gets bigger
July 13, 2021
I wish Sajid Javid well with his huge task of sorting out the appalling communist NHS that fails millions but he is being totally disingenuous in his explanation for the vast increases in NHS waiting lists.
The vast majority of people did not âchooseâ to miss their treatments, scans or tests or to seek help, they were forced to. Their operations and procedures were cancelled, many of their GPs were in hiding. It was not their choice, it was a another gross failure and a dereliction of duty by the NHS. He should admit this and try now to address it. I am no fan of Sajid but he is far better Hancock but honesty from him would be a better policy, nearly everyone who uses the NHS knows the truth after all.
July 13, 2021
Let them play it will be sorted out come the next election – dont think the public are unaware of the spineless clowns now in charge.
July 13, 2021
There always has been a border in Ireland for currency and taxes such as VAT and excise duty.
According to an article in the Irish Times dated 05/03/2001 smugglers have made enormous profits by smuggling petrol and diesel fuel, cigarettes and tobacco, livestock and other products such as illegal growth-promoters for animals, illegally across the Border.
So whatâs the big change if the police on both sides have to add sausages to the list of smuggled goods they need to look for?
July 13, 2021
Sir John,
This whole issue highlights the problem of trying to negotiate with a bureaucracy, especially a self-serving and vindictive bureaucracy. Rules are rules – when it suits them. Otherwise they just make up new rules. The only satisfactory deal with such an organisation is no deal.
July 14, 2021
Mark Thomas
No deal?
Totally correct as it should have always been. We now pay the price of spinelessand gutless leadership from kipper and his fillets.
July 13, 2021
Sir John still not happy trying to stir it up as if the UK was only new to the scene and had no clue at all about the EU and its bent for rules. We left them because we didn’t like their rules but then we had four years of negotiations to sort it out and in the end agreed to a hurried cobbled version – all other attempts at compromise under Mrs May etc etc were rejected by the ERG types thrown out until we got this purist view of things under Boris- Well whatever it is agreed now and only remains for both sides to live up to their committments. Am quite sure that in time the Unionists will manage to live with it
July 13, 2021
John, do you not have any leverage over this pathetic government? It seems that the only people they take notice of are the communist Sage and their corporate lobbyists, neither of whom have the people’s interests at heart.
July 13, 2021
Does the EU expect that British shoppers will encouraged to purchase Irish (meat) produce by all the shenanigans that they read about? There are two entities which will become increasingly unpopular here unless the the situation in NI is resolved sensibly; one is the EU/Irish dimension and the other is the Tory Party.
July 13, 2021
To an ordinary layman like me, this is just a load of nonsense. We, as an independent Nation (If that truly is the case), should be able to decide what we can do with our own products, especially when it concerns regions within our own country.
Once that product leaves our territory, the burden should then fall upon the recipient Nation to make appropriate arrangements to suit their own legislation. So why are we tying ourselves up to a problem that is clearly of EU making?
The problem with the “British” way of conformity with our neighbours is that these days, such “politeness” is read as a weakness in our approach and one to be capitalised upon. Appeasement did not work back in the 30s and it certainly will not work in 2021 Europe either.
Pull the plug and hang the consequences, if there are any.
We did not hesitate to act in 1939 – with a much hard decision to make, so today it should be easy to do what is right for Britain and the British people. For once, put Britain and the British , FIRST!
July 14, 2021
Derek
1939….. We had a leader and statesman who had for years seen the storm coming. Eventually the country got behind him when the previous leaders were floundering so badly.
Is this another case of history repeating itself?
July 14, 2021
We can decide what we do with our own products in our own country. And we , the UK, decided, under Borisâs oven ready deal, to put a block on trade between GB and NI. We in NI were horrified and said so but English voters at the Election and Tory MPs in the Commons lined up and voted for it. So be aware this is not the EUâs fault and not Ulsterâs fault. The splitting up of the UK is Englandâs choice
July 14, 2021
Agreed we should have gone for No deal, and probably still will once the ducks are in a row.
July 14, 2021
No, Carson, splitting up the UK has never been offered as a choice in a referendum to the English. We voted Leave. And that’s what should have happened. To the entire UK as one nation.
July 14, 2021
Just not true. Leave by splitting up the UK is EXACTLY what English voters and MPs endorsed in backing Borisâs oven ready deal at the last General Election. At least admit what you did even if youâre not big enough to apologise to the good people of Northern Ireland
July 13, 2021
It was obvious the EU would behave this way. If they have a legal means to play silly buggers at no cost to themselves they will do that in order to exert political pressure on London to follow their rules. The U.K. government should have seen this coming a mile away. But it should now repudiate this treaty as the only way to stop this continuing indefinitely.
July 13, 2021
exactly. We should firmly tell them to go forth and f off.
July 14, 2021
Yes, their treaties stated expressly that they would, as to any other Third Country.
Has no leaver ever read them?
July 14, 2021
It would be very nice if the EU actually treated the UK like it does other non EU nations.
July 13, 2021
The Northern Ireland Protocol has to be binned. Either Boris was naive in his acceptance of it or it suited some undeclared plan. Now we see his subservience to the globalists at the WEF the latter is more likely.
July 13, 2021
+ 1
July 13, 2021
Enough is enough!
a) Invoke Art 16 now.
b) Give the required 12 months notice of withdrawal from the ‘Trade and Cooperation’ Agreement and prepare a bill to repeal the ‘Withdrawal Agreement’ Act.
c) Don’t pay them a penny.
July 13, 2021
I like everything you’ve said….a true patriot, a true democrat and a true conservative
July 13, 2021
It becomes tiresome to keep dredging stuff up from the past, but this comment from February 2019:
https://johnredwoodsdiary.com/2019/02/03/the-uk-should-lead-freer-trade-worldwide/#comment-993457
is still relevant, and the draft letter to Leo Varadkar that I offered to Theresa May at that time could simply be re-addressed to the current Irish Prime Minister MicheĂĄl Martin, with a new first paragraph referring to the pending announcement that in view of its unremitting abuse by the EU the UK is no longer willing to be bound by the terms of the Irish protocol.
Thanks to the myth that we need a special trade treaty with the EU they think they have the whip hand, and so it is no use expecting them to agree to any reasonable compromise, it must be unilateral action.
July 13, 2021
Dennis
As relevant now as your comment was then.
As I have also said many times, the simple solution is staring them all in the face, but they are either do not understand simple solutions, or are absolutely blind to them.
2 years wasted, untold misery for the population and for business as confusion abounds.
July 13, 2021
The IMB in its original entirety must be resurrected and the NIP, the BA, and Brandon Lewis must go. The last three are making the Province ungovernable.
July 13, 2021
I was surprised no-one put up a strong case against Foreign Aid. Perhaps a government majority was all that was being secured.
Foreign Aid is corrosive if sprayed around too liberally: it boosts corruption, rents, and prostitution, and it kills the local economy. It lets the EU off the hook as far as doing away with its protectionist practices are concerned. Contrary to the ideology, it enables people to move to London who would not otherwise have done. The only gainers are the likes of David Miliband and Mrs Stephen Kinnock, who can pose as charity workers while raking in BBC sized salaries.
As the PM said, every pound we give away has to be borrowed, to be paid back by our children and grandchildren. To people like Mrs May, what is so moral about any of that? I noticed a large part of the opposition case was built on personal abuse – never very compelling. In the end it boiled down to this: my aid budget is bigger than yours…
July 13, 2021
We should not pay the Mafia a brass farthing. Let’s see what they can do. “The square root of not vey much”, springs to mind.
July 13, 2021
The real question with the NIP is the long run. Can we live with the current situation, or are we going to be complaining about it for years to come? If the latter, we should do something about it now, and we should do it quickly, before the EU can claim that we can’t undo something we have been able to live with.
People are talking about the NIP as if it’s a UK construct. It isn’t. It has been drive by the EU, they are watching how it plays out, and they will seize on any sign of weakness. They will use the same “ratchet” with the NIP as they use with everything else. The NIP will be used to increase EU powers, because they use everything to increase EU powers.
Are we going to wake up in five years time saying “Gee, the EU is acting just like the EU. How did we miss that?”
July 13, 2021
The moment the issue was made justiciable in the ECJ, the UK handed NI over to the EU bound, gagged and in chains. Anyone who has lived in continental Europe knows exactly what a ludicrously romanticised and prejudiced view they have of the UK vis-a-vis the Celtic fringe. The Germans and the French, in particular, who know even less Irish history than Mr Johnson and Mr Lewis, have swallowed the SF propaganda that Northern Ireland is some remnant of colonial oppression, rather than the law-abiding area of the island of Ireland that insisted on remaining in the UK when a Fenian coup in the south seceded from the United Kingdom.
The PM has made a fool of us all. Now there is no alternative to internecine violence in NI and probably spilling over to the RoI as well, except to resile entirely from the NI Protocol, and the WA as well, citing the relevant clauses of the 1967 Vienna Treaty.
July 14, 2021
What are the relevant clauses of the 1967 Vienna Treaty? Clue – there arenât any
July 14, 2021
The whole of part V of the 1967 Vienna Convention covers the case, in conjunction with Section 16 of the NI Protocol, Section 38 of the European Union (Withdrawal Agreement) Act 2020 and the amendments it makes to the European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018.
July 13, 2021
With friends like these…..
July 13, 2021
Well we could actually pursue the opportunities of Brexit then put this matter to an NI referendum. All in or all out.
July 14, 2021
Lord Frost has promised to publish his new plans before Parliament rises next Thursday.
I don’t expect much, not while Boris Johnson still wrongly supposes that we need his special trade deal with the EU – worth 30% of GDP, he told the nation on Christmas Eve, actually more like 1%:
https://johnredwoodsdiary.com/2021/04/14/my-contribution-to-the-finance-no-2-bill-debate-13-april-2021/#comment-1222413
And while Lord Frost insists that we must have some special treaty with the EU over Northern Ireland.
Both of these mistaken notions just invite the EU to say “No, not unless you agree to what we want …”
July 15, 2021
Lord Frost on July 8 2021:
https://youtu.be/H7L7ICHjWWk?t=771
âWe are clear, there will always need to be some kind of tailored treaty relationship between the UK and the EU covering delicate issues around Northern Ireland and protecting the Belfast/Good Friday Agreement, that is absolutely clear.â
In other words, no matter how absurd and extreme and intransigent the EU position over Northern Ireland may become the UK will never just walk away and take its own unilateral measures rather than pleading for the EU to consent to a special deal, a “tailored treaty relationship”. When are our politicians going to learn that you cannot hope to succeed in negotiations if you start off by saying that you must have a deal?
July 15, 2021
https://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/northern-ireland/eu-dropped-800-new-regulations-on-n-ireland-without-notice-says-government-40654157.html
“EU dropped 800 new regulations on N Ireland without notice, says Government”
If Theresa May had got her way then they would have been dropped on the whole of the UK.