EU has ”broken the law” on the Northern Ireland Protocol

The EU has as it would say “broken the law”. They have reneged on the UK Agreement.

Article 1 of the Northern Ireland Protocol states

 

“This Protocol is without prejudice to the provisions of the 1998 Agreement in respect of the constitutional status of Northern Ireland and the principle of consent which provides that any change in the status can only be made with the consent of the people”

The loyalist community sees thatĀ  the Protocol has cut them off from important parts of the UK state and placed them under EU rules and controls. They are losing their right to import from GB and to have the same laws as GB without their consent.

The Article affirms that “This Protocol respects the essential state functions and territorial integrity of the UK”. Not the way the EU is interpreting it.

 

Article 6 of the Protocol states

“having regard to Northern Ireland’s integral place in the UK the Union and the UK shall use their best endeavours to facilitate trade between Northern Ireland and other parts of the UK”

Instead the EU has gone out of its way to disrupt GB to NI trade and to divert trade to NI/EU.

 

The opening to the Protocol sets out the overarching aims for help in interpreting the text. These include:

 

Having regard to the importance of maintaining the integral place of BI in the UK’s internal market

Recalling that NI is part of the customs territory of the UK

Determined it should impact as little as possible on the everyday life of communities in both Ireland and NI…

 

All of these have been violated badly by the EU

 

Article 16 allows the UK or the EU toĀ  take unilateral action to remedy issues where there are “serious economic, social or environmental difficulties” or where trade is diverted. These tests are clearly met.

The EU would be wise to apologise for breaking the Agreement, and should take action to correct the difficulties it has created for NI and the UK single market.

 

274 Comments

  1. Peter Wood
    November 10, 2021

    Good Morning,

    I don’t think the EU Commission yet realise this rediculous agreement’s purpose is to do what it is doing, namely to waste EU bureaucratic time, cause embarrassment and prove that EU power and Law is a fiction. How can the EU Commission refer to its ‘Law’ when it is not a State.

    1. DOM
      November 10, 2021

      This is about politics. There are no laws in politics at any level.

      1. Nota#
        November 10, 2021

        @Peter Wood @DOM +1 – the domain for inbuilt and perpetual corruption

        1. Ignoramus
          November 10, 2021

          Surely the easiest solution is to let Northern Ireland join southern Ireland.

          Indeed, isn’t that in the very spirit of Brexit? To throw off these union shackles and have an independent England?

          1. alan jutson
            November 10, 2021

            Would that be the solution that the people of both Irelands want?
            Seems from recent soundings taken that is certainly not the case.

          2. Footprint
            November 12, 2021

            Wouldn’t a better solution be for Ireland to exit the EU and stand on their own two feet and re-enter the commonwealth. And join a natural trade associatiom which as a whole could compete against the USA who cannot be depended upon (even if we finally get a turn at the end of the Q/Line and of course the Chinese who can be depended on to make sure they eventually swallow everybody.

            It would certainly be more honest than hiding behind the EU and forcing a reunited Ireland by plain trickery.and also the vague hope that a UK government will capitulate eventually and be welcomed back into the United family of the EU

            It’s known as acting “the daft laddie”

            Currently I hear Frosty saying there are things still remaining, I haven’t heard mention just lately the demise of the ECJ, that MUST be gone even if the whole Protocol is not binned.

          3. Ashley
            November 13, 2021

            We don’t want that in N.Ireland
            We want our right as part of the UNITED kingdom šŸ‡¬šŸ‡§šŸ‡¬šŸ‡§šŸ‡¬šŸ‡§šŸ‡¬šŸ‡§šŸ‡¬šŸ‡§šŸ‡¬šŸ‡§šŸ‡¬šŸ‡§šŸ‡¬šŸ‡§šŸ‡¬šŸ‡§šŸ‡¬šŸ‡§šŸ‡¬šŸ‡§šŸ‡¬šŸ‡§

    2. Nottingham Lad Himself
      November 10, 2021

      Sir John’s piece has no basis.

      It rests on a false assertion that “the loyalist community” are suffering.

      If by that term he simply meant the extremists, the bus burners, the UVF and so on, then he would be correct as to their exaggerated claims, but they, fortunately, are a minority of criminals, and not one recognised by the treaty.

      Of over five thousand businesses in NI recently surveyed, not a single one raised the protocol as their main problem – though they do have others, and caused directly by this puritanical Tory brexit.

      Sir John’s claim, however, is that it is not puritanical enough, as ever.

      1. a-tracy
        November 10, 2021

        NLH – This survey you have seen of ‘five thousand businesses in NI recently surveyed’ what are the other problems they have that they wrote about?

      2. JPM
        November 10, 2021

        There is no truth in your statements.

        1. Nota#
          November 10, 2021

          @JPM +1 just wants to appear if knowledgeable

      3. Mactheknife
        November 10, 2021

        And the last sentence gives it all away…. -1

    3. Gary Megson
      November 10, 2021

      It is a Treaty. A Treaty is a binding law. The UK agreed to it. A General Election was won by saluting it as an ovenready deal. All the Commission is saying is that the UK needs to do what it agreed to do. And that is to check goods going from GB to NI. Don’t like it? Shouldn’t have voted for it – but all the Brexiters did

      1. a-tracy
        November 10, 2021

        Gary, do you speak for the Commission, in what capacity?

        ‘Shouldnā€™t have voted for it ā€“ but all the Brexiters did’ No, all the brexiters didn’t Sir John didn’t, he warned them it was a trap.

        1. Nota#
          November 10, 2021

          @a-tracy +1

        2. glen cullen
          November 10, 2021

          Correct – A remainer inspired and voted WA, T&CA and NIP

      2. JPM
        November 10, 2021

        It’s a treaty, you are correct, but it’s binding only so long as both parties agree to adhere to it.

      3. Original Richard
        November 10, 2021

        Gary Megson :

        Treaties between sovereign states are not binding and history teaches us that unfair treaties do not last.

        1. Nota#
          November 10, 2021

          @Original Richard +1

      4. Peter2
        November 10, 2021

        It is about out the interpretation of the agreement. GM
        Did you read it and think the EU would suddenly stop and check supermarket lorries that are delivering supplies to their own outlets in Northern Ireland ?
        Have you any practical examples of goods being taken illegally into the Republic of Ireland which are not to the required quality standards?

        1. Dennis
          November 10, 2021

          What about goods made in NI? are they checked? Haven’t heard so.

          1. Dennis
            November 10, 2021

            Oh no, from NI to ROI is OK.

      5. SteveInHK
        November 15, 2021

        Hey Gary,

        You do realise that enacting Article 16 *is* honouring the Treaty, don’t you?

        It’s what it’s there for.

    4. Breakeven
      November 10, 2021

      Because the EU Commission talks for the 27 states, because when the Commission makes an agreement on behalf of the 27 the agreement then has to be ratified in the EU parliament that is after having been voted on and approved in the EU Council of ministers. Of course we should know all of that given we were there with them for forty five years.

    5. jerry
      November 10, 2021

      @Peter Woods; “How can the EU Commission refer to its ā€˜Lawā€™ when it is not a State.”

      In the same way as the UN can refer to their laws, even though not a State, and in any case as the WA and NIP are international treaties the EU is likely not referring to their own EU27 laws but those of the UN.

    6. Footprint
      November 11, 2021

      Treaties or agreements with the EU appear to be a system of “traps”
      I studies law for my HNC Building, admiiedly it was pretty nugatory, but we did learn something about Rylands and Fletcher and the Man on the Clapham omnibus and I also seem to remember a case of where a farmer had surrounded an orchard he had placed in the middle of a field surrounded by a high fence, he couldn`t succeed against a young scrumper who had impaled himself on the fence, because the lure of the lovely fruits on the trees had resulted in his setting a trap.

      Perhaps the law doesn`t like traps and even if there is no actual law against the Protocol traps, perhaps it is strong evidence that the agreement was negotiated in “bad faith”, particularly as it had been observed that the negotiations were meant to end up with a “Free trade agreement” and the EU never even approached it as such, the UK was bamboozled all the way through – mind you that doesn`t excuse Boris not understanding what he was signing

      1. dixie
        November 12, 2021

        Perhaps it was all a trap for Boris and pro-Leave by the author of the 2020 NIP command paper – Michael Gove

  2. Mark B
    November 10, 2021

    Good morning.

    . . . best endeavours . . .

    I have said to you before, Sir John, it is all about the wording and its interpretations. It is also about who decides on what is what ? Finally. It is about what legal advice the UK Government is receiving and how it interprets the meaning(s) of the agreement.

    To me the agreement is open to too wider interpretation, like the example above.

    We now know how Serbia must have felt over Kosovo when the international community decided on annexing part of its sovereign territory.

    1. X-Tory
      November 10, 2021

      While most of Sir John’s (and the UK government’s) complaints are indeed a matter of interpretation and opinion, there is ONE issue that is a matter of FACT – the diversion of trade. This is a matter on which there is NO doubt, and even the EU are not disputing it! It is the most serious breach, and it justifies the UK resiling from the Protocol. Our internal trade is being harmed. That is something that is unacceptable and must end.

      The point that I don’t get, and Sir John (nor the government) has never explained, is why the checks and forms which are harming our trade are actually happening. The UK government says that these checks are based on a misinterpretation and misapplication of the Protocol, but the people carrying out the checks are *British* customs officers, following the instructions given to them by the *British* government. So the British government is issuing instructions that it believes are wrong and unacceptable!!! I genuinely do not understand this madness. I know Boris and the Cabinet are a bunch of cretins, but this is surely too dumb even for them!

      1. Mark B
        November 10, 2021

        Our government made in haste and now the poor people of Ulster must repent at the EU’s leisure. That is what happens when people just want something done, anything in fact, rather than the right thing.

        My point is, the clauses in the Agreement are too ambiguous and open to wide and differing interpretations. Typical EU Treaty, written in such a way to mean what its reader (The ECJ) means. Any damned fool could see this a mile off ! Any that is, except our own !

        I have offered this place a solution. Go after the Irish and Luxembourg corporate tax havens !! Bleed them dry. The EU will not help as it wants tax harmony across the EU but, it will force the Irish government (and the EU) back to the negotiating table.

      2. rose
        November 10, 2021

        It is called gold plating.

  3. GilesB
    November 10, 2021

    ā€˜Protecting the EU Single Marketā€™ does not require the inspection of every vehicle entering NI from GB.

    Nor does ā€˜Protecting the U.K. Single Marketā€™ require the inspection of every vehicle entering GB from NI.

    The EU are just been ridiculous.

    Tear up the whole deal not just the protocol.

    Weā€™ll just have to complete their customer declarations and pay taxes on our exports of goods to them. And they can do the same on our imports.

    Much of the cost of tariffs will be passed on to consumers. Some will fall on companies both directly and indirectly through reduced sales.

    The U.K. Exchequer will gain several billions each year. The U.K. currently imports from the EU about Ā£20 billion a month, and exports about Ā£13billion. With average tariffs of say 4%, thatā€™s Ā£280 million a month net gain for the U.K.

    1. Shirley M
      November 10, 2021

      +1 Giles. That would be my preference too, with the added bonus that the free EU fishing licences would end. The EU fishermen have no interest in preserving UK stocks and have even overfished their own stocks. If any EU boats want licences (and if we are willing to sell them) then make them pay and force them to land catches in the UK for quota checking. The seas around the UK are a valuable natural asset that will be stripped bare by the EU, if allowed.

      1. majorfrustration
        November 10, 2021

        +1

    2. Nottingham Lad Himself
      November 10, 2021

      But you want the inspection of every vehicle entering the UK to check for stowaway illegal immigrants, don’t you?

      Why should ROI – who have no closed border with the UK – not want the same?

      1. graham1946
        November 10, 2021

        Have you any instances of illegal migrants going from the UK to ROI in the backs of lorries? Do share with us your knowledge.

      2. JPM
        November 10, 2021

        The Republic of Ireland, and through them the EU, is performing customs inspections, not immigration inspections. Perhaps you are confused?

      3. IanT
        November 10, 2021

        So your logic is that people who have crossed the Channel in a boat will then travel across the UK to illegally enter the RoI? What a wonderful sense of humour! šŸ™‚

      4. Peter2
        November 10, 2021

        Only a very small percentage of vehicles are stopped in the search for stowaways NHL
        Surely you know this?

    3. Denis Cooper
      November 10, 2021

      To protect the EU Single Market from unacceptable goods entering EU territory across the open Irish land border it is only necessary to prevent any unacceptable goods crossing the open Irish land border.

      Unlike the present EU checks and controls on all goods being imported into Northern Ireland from outside checks and controls on goods being exported to the Republic would be able to catch both any unacceptable goods which have come into Northern Ireland from outside, AND any unacceptable goods which have been produced within the province.

      Under the protocol the latter are dealt with separately, by keeping Northern Ireland under EU Single Market rules, with the consequence that businesses in Northern Ireland must be subject to the same EU Single Market checks and inspections and investigations and criminal proceedings and battery of sanctions as those in the Republic and elsewhere in the EU.

      And inevitably all with the oversight of the EU’s Court of Justice,so if Lord Frost wants to remove the EU court from the position of final arbiter then he needs an alternative mechanism to make sure that businesses in Northern Ireland are not allowed to export goods which the EU court would condemn across the border into the Republic, even if they were allowed to produce such goods for consumption within the province and the rest of the UK.

      In other words he needs to replace the EU import controls with UK export controls, as envisaged in the July 2021 Command Paper and as first mooted here in January 2017:

      https://johnredwoodsdiary.com/2017/01/18/the-waning-of-germany/#comment-852633

      and proposed to my local MP and then Prime Minister Theresa May in February 2018:

      https://www.maidenhead-advertiser.co.uk/news/letters-to-the-editor/128146/easy-solution-to-eu-border-conundrum.html

      and repeated ad nauseam since then.

    4. Nota#
      November 10, 2021

      @GilesB +1 The UK population 70million of which just 1.9 million reside in NI. Those 1.9 are the men women and children that are supported with jobs and have a life to get on with – are the really an threat to the 400 odd million under the EU Commissions Control.
      This is about punishment, punishment of the UK population for daring to aspire to live by the principles of democracy

      1. Nottingham Lad Himself
        November 10, 2021

        Nah, it’s just about a government with a majority of eighty doing what it signed up to do, and which was ratified by the Parliament – which its party completely controls.

        Do stop the silly endless victimhood whingeing, please.

        1. anon
          November 10, 2021

          That majority of 80 can do what it chooses.
          We wish it would act on the expressed will of the referendum . Which was simply leave.
          WTO was an acceptable outcome and deemed by most pragmatic observers as the cleanest and easiest method. The EU is an unreliable and bad faith partner. A clean break and a period of reflection is the best way.

          We have other fish to fry, unfortunately not our own.

          However we can be sure “underground remainers” will be at it signing deals to tie us in and obligate us in some way to the crazy clubs.

          Perhaps you should sort out the EU external borders where the risks are real. Illegal invasion by immigration.

      2. Old Salt
        November 10, 2021

        Nota
        It’s all about political control.

    5. Breakeven
      November 10, 2021

      GilesB – “Tear up the whole deal not just the protocol” – do it and only then will we know the true meaning of the word ridiculous

      1. dixie
        November 12, 2021

        The EU already “tore up” the whole deal with their attempt to blockade legal and contractual export of vaccines to NI on the pretext of Article 16. By that action the EU demonstrated beyond all doubt or interpretation it does not respect the citizens of Northern Ireland or their rights or even the terms of the NI Protocol, but sees them all purely as pawns in it’s power games.

    6. BOF
      November 10, 2021

      In full agreement GilesB.

    7. John Hatfield
      November 10, 2021

      ā€œTear up the whole deal not just the protocolā€

      Which is what Sir John was advocating and where David Frost was heading I believe, that is going WTO rules, before Boris jumped in and signed the Withdrawal Agreement. Boris is a closet Remainer.

  4. Shirley M
    November 10, 2021

    I have often queried why the EU were allowed to ban UK sausages and medicines from NI, when NI is part of the UK internal market. Why was it allowed? Was it a case of giving the EU enough rope to hang itself?

    1. Nota#
      November 10, 2021

      @Shirley M – the ego of a bureaucratic ‘jobs worth’ and a weak Government that is of with the fairies rather taking responsibility for Governing the UK.

    2. Peter Parsons
      November 10, 2021

      Because that was the deal that Johnson and Frost negotiated, signed up to, and was voted through Parliament by the Conservative Party.

      1. Mark B
        November 10, 2021

        +1

      2. John Hatfield
        November 10, 2021

        But not the interpretation thereof.

        1. Peter Parsons
          November 12, 2021

          The interpretation was down to a joint committee, which had Michael Gove as its lead on the UK side.

      3. dixie
        November 12, 2021

        not just the Conservative Party but the Labour Party as well.

    3. Denis Cooper
      November 10, 2021

      This anti-British article in the Irish News today:

      https://www.irishnews.com/opinion/columnists/2021/11/10/news/brian-feeney-triggering-article-16-will-mean-turmoil-for-north-2502067/

      starts with a reminder that the EU apparently does not understand the meaning of “de minimis”:

      “Within days of Brexit coming into effect last January xenophobic British tabloids were ranting about Dutch customs officers at the Hook of Holland ferry terminal confiscating ā€˜British lorry driversā€™ ham sandwichesā€™.

      Of course it wasnā€™t only British lorry drivers, but any lorry coming from the UK, though the tabloids portrayed it as anti-British. The customs man explained: ā€œYou are no longer allowed to bring certain foods to Europe, like meat, fruit, vegetables, fish, that kind of stuff. Welcome to the Brexit sir.ā€”

      As for British sausages brought into Northern Ireland possibly finding their way across the land border and contaminating the EU Single Market , they have been free to enter Northern Ireland during the extended grace period and so one might have expected the Irish government to have issued some statistics on how many have intruded into the south, and perhaps even provide evidence that it is feeding a black market in British sausages alongside those in drugs and guns and other contraband goods.

      However it is the last sentence in this article which most puzzles me:

      “What it means for this place is turmoil, whipped up by reckless unionist politicians, with one objective: a hard British border at any cost.”

      I’ve seen it claimed before that unionist politicians want to close the land border, but where is the evidence that they would want to do that, even if it was feasible and even if the UK government agreed to it?

      1. Blithespirit
        November 10, 2021

        The unionist politicians are not the force they once were.. some of them would like to see army watchtowers back again but that’s not going to happen.. the Irish caucus on the hill would never approve

  5. DOM
    November 10, 2021

    This PM took the UK into this flawed agreement. He must take full responsibility for the damage and uncertainty we have seen since his buffoonery catapulted him and his treacherous party into government.

    Regarding the actions of the EU. Well, I don’t believe anyone except this PM thought they would act in good faith.

    Let’s face up to the fact that the UK in constitutional terms is laid waste. Blair plunged the knife in when he came to power and successive Tory PMs have endorsed and built upon all that Blair enacted. Blair’s aim was nothing less than the wholesale dismantling of the UK and its absorption into the EU bog.

    Both parties are directly responsible for the dismantling of this country. That they still receive electoral backing from the English voter is testament to the power of free-lunch politics

    1. Everhopeful
      November 10, 2021

      ++++
      Many many.
      So sadly true.

    2. X-Tory
      November 10, 2021

      You are quite right: Boris the Betrayer IS the one responsible for all the problems. Although I accept that while he was subject to the constraints of the ‘Traitors’ Parliament’ he was not able to negotiate freely with the EU, after the election he had a majority of 80 and could and should have immediately renegotiated both the Protocol and the TCA, *before* signing them. Why didn’t he do so? Three reasons:
      (1) He simply doesn’t care. He isn’t a patriot. He doesn’t care about the country. All he cares about is himself and having a jolly good time – and the national interest can go to hell.
      (2) He is too stupid to understand what the problems are or how they will grow and fester and eventually cause insufferable trouble which will be even more difficult to resolve.
      (3) He is too cowardly to take on any opponent that he thinks might cause him problems – whether it is the EU, or the liberal media, or the courts, or his wife, or even a footballer with a bee in his bonnet. The man is a gutless jelly and is not fit to be prime minister.

      1. Shirley M
        November 10, 2021

        Any delay (even one month) would have taken us into a new EU 7 year budget period? That could have cost us dear! As it is, we were very lucky to escape the covid bailout which would also have cost us dear, for zero benefit.

        As you say, the ‘traitors’ Parliament really damaged the UK negotiating power and left no time for new legislation.

      2. dixie
        November 12, 2021

        Then again the basis of his anointing might have placed pro-EU restrictions on him – who knows what the true loyalties of MPs are …

    3. Nota#
      November 10, 2021

      @DOM +1 although the PM knowing or caring what he shouts about is a bit of a stretch

  6. Gary Megson
    November 10, 2021

    A truly shocking tissue of errors. The courts of this country have been asked whether the Protocol breaches the Good Friday Agreement. It doesn’t, because Northern Ireland clearly remains part of the UK. End of story. Do EU rules apply in Northern Ireland but not in GB – yes, they do, that is the result of the Withdrawal Agreement which this government welcomed as oven ready, but it doesn’t mean NI is part of the EU – it isn’t, it’s part of the UK. Are there checks on trade between GB and NI? Yes, there are, that is the result of the Withdrawal Agreement which this government welcomed as oven ready, but it doesn’t mean NI is part of the EU – it isn’t, it’s part of the UK. Please Mr Redwood, stop inflaming a very delicate situation.

    1. Sir Joe Soap
      November 10, 2021

      Look, it was never going to work to have checks between Liverpool and Belfast, any more than it would to have checks on goods and vehicles between Manchester and Liverpool. It was, however, the only way to move forward after May and Co had played a good hand poorly.

      The EU probably think we are quite stupid for taking any notice of this silly clause, when they ignore their own fiscal rules, agreements to remain on friendly terms with neighbours etc. when these don’t suit. The whole checks process should never have been set up by HMG and should have been ignored by Border Farce from Day 1-there must be something in their contracts of employment which could have been added to prevent them from the “onerous” and “risky” work of checking bona fide UK transiting goods and vehicles.

    2. a-tracy
      November 10, 2021

      Gary, you seem so sure of yourself, are you a lawyer working on this? You are accusing John of a tissue of errors without telling us what qualifies you to make ‘end of story’ accusations to a lawmaker in our house of commons.

    3. X-Tory
      November 10, 2021

      Your argument – which is the one that all Remoaner extremists make – that an agreement, once made, can never ever be renegotiated or scrapped – is very silly. Agreements are made by people to satisfy their needs or desires at the time, but circumstances can change and people can change their minds. I might agree to meet up with you on Friday evening, but I am free to postpone or cancel our meeting if I need to, or I want to, for any reason. The UK government is similarly free to amend or completely scrap the Protocol if it so wishes.

      It is clear that the Protocol is not working the way the government thought it would. You might say that the government’s expectations were unrealistic, but so what? Those were their expectations, their expectations have not been met, and so now they need to change the Protocol so that it does meet their expectations. It all seems perfectly clear and understandable to me. Yes, the government made a mistake in agreeing to the Protocol, but when you realise your mistake it is best to correct it right away. If you find you’ve taken the wrong turning you don’t keep driving, do you? No, you take another road in order to reach your desired destination. And that’s what the government says it is going to do. What on earth is wrong with that?

      1. Narrow Shoulders
        November 10, 2021

        e.g Treaty of Rome, Maastricht Treaty, Lisbon agreement

  7. Fedupsoutherner
    November 10, 2021

    Agree with your post today John. It’s time this was sorted out just as it’s time that checks on PEOPLE entering our country became more stringent. Don’t have the right paperwork or none? Then get out.

    1. Ian Wragg
      November 10, 2021

      Don’t hold your breath.
      Once again like the channel taxi service, all talk and no action.
      Get on with it man for Christs sake.

      1. No Longer Anonymous
        November 10, 2021

        There is a BBC news blackout on the Channel crisis. They can travel to the far reaches of the EU and to Afghanistan but the Channel is never shown or mentioned. I’m sure this suits the Tory Govt too. It is all part of the plan.

        Brexit wasn’t meant to have happened. Mr Cameron wanted to shut the nutcases up for good and take the UK further into the EU.

      2. graham1946
        November 10, 2021

        Too busy chasing rainbows at FLOP26.

      3. glen cullen
        November 10, 2021

        I fear youā€™re correct, nothing absolutely nothing is going to happen, Boris and this government will never evoke any sanction against the EU

      4. Old Salt
        November 10, 2021

        Ian
        How many more millions of taxpayers money on top of funding the lifestyle not to mention the infrastructure needed for the tens of thousands every year for the past decades while our pensioners suffer increases over the years lower than real inflation now being forced to pay the TV license for some their only view of the outside world.

        https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/uknews/74-million-plan-to-replace-border-force-boats-to-tackle-illegal-migration/ar-AAPSza6?ocid=msedgdhp&pc=U531

  8. turboterrier
    November 10, 2021

    Enough is enough. The EU by their actions have shown that they are totally paranoid about others following the UK decision to leave and their only action is to us a very big stick. Not one gram of statesmanship and common sense amongst any of them. They will live to regret the behavior.
    As for the UK, know when to fold them and walk away the game is over. Too much time, effort and money has been wasted try to appease them. Free this country of their laws and bitterness towards us and when, if they decide they want to be grown up and accept the divorce then we will discuss the new way forward.

  9. Andy
    November 10, 2021

    If only Brexitists had negotiated it ā€¦..

    Ohā€¦ā€¦.

    1. Sir Joe Soap
      November 10, 2021

      To call May a Brexitist is laughable.

      1. Sir Joe Soap
        November 10, 2021

        If you mean Johnson & Co, well he didn’t negotiate it. Extremely little was changed from the May/Robbins agreement. Frankly without remainers hijacking and handicapping the process this would have been difefrent.

        1. Lifelogic
          November 10, 2021

          Indeed May, the remoaners and the blatant treachery of many was to blame. Many of these have since readmitted to the party, sit as MPs and some have even been elevated into the Lords with Borisā€™s approval one assumes.

          The suspended MPs included Philip Hammond, Kenneth Clark, Greg Clark, David Gauke, Justine Greening, Dominic Grieve, Oliver Letwin, Caroline Nokes and Rory Stewart, Nicholas Soames and 11 others.

        2. Peter Parsons
          November 10, 2021

          The NI Protocol wasn’t in anything May negotiated. It is purely the output of Johnson and Frost’s work.

          That and the details on implementing it, where Michael Gove was one of the leading contributors.

          Too many people are too willing to ignore that this whole thing was willingly negotiated, signed up to and agreed by Conservative Brexiteers. At any point, they could have said no. They chose not to. This is the Brexit the leavers have delivered. If you don’t like it, blame them, not the EU.

          1. a-tracy
            November 10, 2021

            Peter, what was changed by Boris’s team on the N Ireland Protocol that May and Robbins negotiated?

          2. glen cullen
            November 10, 2021

            Correct ā€“ The EU negotiation team werenā€™t the first to introduce the issue of the NI border, it was Mrs Mays negotiation teamā€¦.and then the EU jumped all over it
            I don’t blame the EU I blame Mrs May PM

          3. Shirley M
            November 10, 2021

            @Peter – you are partly right. If my recall is correct, May negotiated to put the whole of the UK in the Customs Union. Boris managed to renegotiate this to apply to NI only. Not ideal at all, but certainly better than May’s version.

          4. Mike Wilson
            November 10, 2021

            At any point they could have said no</blockquote
            Utter nonsense. The thing had become a complete farce. Four years after the referendum and there was still no end in sight. All Boris had to say was ā€˜Get Brexit Doneā€™ and he had an 80 seat majority. If you ever wonder why we ended up with Boris as PM, you only have to look in the mirror. You and all the other Remoaners that tried to thwart Brexit have us this inane, corrupt government. Thank you.

          5. Peter Parsons
            November 12, 2021

            @a-tracy, a border down the Irish Sea wasn’t in anything May negotiated. Such a thing was completely objectionable to her and she said so.

            What was changed by Boris’ team was the introduction of just such a border (while going around telling everyone that there wouldn’t be one).

          6. a-tracy
            November 12, 2021

            Thanks Peter, the whole thing confuses me if Iā€™m honest. If say meat or oak trees are grown in the UK (not imported from elsewhere), slaughtered in the UK and then shipped to a composite part of the UK – Northern Ireland why do the EU have to interfere at all? If a Northern Irish company chose to sell this product on to Southern Ireland without a tax invoice then this fraud would be easily identified as any fraud would by the tax office surely?

            Didnā€™t May and Robbins original negotiation to put the whole of the UK into Northern Irelandā€™s straight jacket? Which would have stopped up expanding business and dealings with the rest of the World?

            I absolutely agree that Boris was foolish to sign after promising that the whole of the UK would leave intact and JR warned him on this blog several times of that but there was a clause if the restrictions became too onerous, which not allowing the UK to ship UK grown products to our own Country is. Even EUfiles must accept that? No?

            I read that N Ireland produced more meat than other regions of the UK and sent these products into the UK easily enough so I still canā€™t understand why they are short of meat or weā€™d ship into the UK then back again? If it canā€™t be resolved then give the people of Northern Irish a vote now immediately. No more threats that wonā€™t be followed through it just makes us a laughing stock.

        3. Nottingham Lad Himself
          November 10, 2021

          When the brexit Tories have a majority of eighty, yes, of eighty, in the UK’s supreme Parliament, how can anything that was signed by them be attributable to anyone whatsoever other than them?

          Your claim is utterly, absolutely, ridiculous.

        4. Gary Megson
          November 10, 2021

          The only bit that Frost/ Johnson changed was the Irish Protocol – the bit they are now up in arms about. Literally the only thing Frost/ Johnson did when they came into power was to agree the border in the Irish sea!

          1. a-tracy
            November 12, 2021

            Gary, well no, not really they took the R of the UK out of Mayā€™s agreement didnā€™t they?

      2. Andy
        November 10, 2021

        Whilst the whole Withdrawal Agreement is crap, the bit you are all moaning about the most is the Northern Ireland Protocol.

        This was negotiated ENTIRELY by Frost and Johnson. It removed the backstop, which Brexitists also moaned about.

        At some point you clowns really need to grow up and take responsibility for your own mess.

    2. a-tracy
      November 10, 2021

      May and Sir Oliver Robbins KCMG CB is a former senior British civil servant who served as the Prime Minister’s Europe Adviser and the chief Brexit negotiator from 2017 to 2019.
      Boris fell into their trap and dragged NI into it.

    3. Mactheknife
      November 10, 2021

      If the Brexiteers had negotiated it in the first place instead of allowing May to roll over and have a tummy tickled, then it would be a different agreement.

      The EU were quick to push the detonator over their vaccine shambles, so why should we not do the same.

      1. Mark B
        November 10, 2021

        There was two ‘BREXITEERS’ waiting in the wings – Johnson and Leadsom. Johnson was stabbed in the back, and the other fell on her sword after making a perfectly innocent remark about her and her children.

        1. Mark B
          November 10, 2021

          Ademdum

          As someone from this parish at the time of the Referendum – “The fix was already in !”

  10. Daolin
    November 10, 2021

    If youā€™re so upset about it, go litigate. You do know which court rules on the Protocol? Itā€™s the ECJ. But you must know that, because that is exactly what you voted for in January 2020 when you approved the Withdrawal Agreement which includes the Protocol.

    1. Sir Joe Soap
      November 10, 2021

      Wrong. Our host did not vote for it. Become informed.

      1. Nottingham Lad Himself
        November 10, 2021

        What the least scrap of difference does that make?

        I take the “you” simply to mean his party with its insuperable majority.

      2. hefner
        November 10, 2021

        So what, SJS?
        Sir John did not vote for it, but a majority of MPs in January 2020 voted for it, and that after the ā€˜remainersā€™ Conservative MPs had mostly been eliminated in the December 2019 GE.
        So take responsibility for once. After Mayā€™s departure in June 2019, the MPs first selected two among the 10 candidates, then the Conservative membership chose Boris among the last two standing. Then you gave him a 80-MP majority in December 2019. From July 2019 to January 2020, Frost and Johnson were at the table discussing with the EU. We were told it was an oven ready agreement, the Withdrawal Agreement: Second reading was passed by 358 to 254 on 19 December 2019, the programme motion for it was passed by 353 to 243. Then it went to the Committee stage on 7 January 2020. And the final vote (Third Reading) on it was passed by Parliament on 22 January by 330 to 231 with Royal Assent given on 23 January 2020.

        So SJS, if somebody has to get informed, you might want to revisit the events of these last 30 months, and possibly realised you have been had. These documents went multiple times to the MPs and Lords. Only uninformed people would say this agreement did not get scrutiny.

        But as it appears to be a British characteristic, it is never our own fault, it is always the othersā€™ .
        So enjoy the trip now!

        1. dixie
          November 11, 2021

          Hef, regardless of what you or the sock calling himself “Nottingham Lad Himself” would prefer it is a matter of fact and record that John did not vote in favour of the protocol, did not approve it. So SJS is quite correct.

          The OP needs to be more precise in his accusation, at the least distinguish between singular and plural.

          1. Nottingham Lad Himself
            November 11, 2021

            Why?

            It has no bearing on the matter in hand, even if it does on Sir John’s voting record.

          2. dixie
            November 12, 2021

            @MiC or NLH or whatever you call yourself – it has every bearing on the comment.
            You should demonstrate yourself, in all your guises, what you demand sunshine.

    2. dixie
      November 12, 2021

      No need to litigate, we just use Article 16 as it was intended.
      Read the NIP – the ECJ does not rule on the NIP, changes are the province of the Joint Committee to discuss and I guess beyond them would be UK and EU negotiators, but no ECJ. The ECJ only has domain over trade items the NIP agreement says are subject to EU product regulations, not over the agreement itself.

  11. Sea_Warrior
    November 10, 2021

    This farce has gone on for long enough. We have seen the utter lunacy of Scottish seed-potatoes being banned from NI. And supermarket chains being unable to send, easily, a truck-load of groceries to Belfast. It’s time for decisive action. Once Johnson has ACTED, Brussels will probably start to see some sense.

    1. Nottingham Lad Himself
      November 10, 2021

      The Government signed an agreement to say that those things were implicitly to what they agreed.

      Their majority of eighty ensured that it passed too.

      1. a-tracy
        November 10, 2021

        NLH so if an agreement doesn’t work you have to stick with it for life? And your beloved EU does that all the time does it without making any changes to treaties ever.

        1. Nottingham Lad Himself
          November 10, 2021

          No, you can, say, stop paying your mortgage interest and capital any time that you like, or break a covenant on your land.

          The other side will then do what the agreement or the law says that they can if you do.

          1. a-tracy
            November 10, 2021

            NLH – we didnā€™t buy a house? If I didnā€™t like the covenant on my land Iā€™d sell up and move. If I couldnā€™t pay my mortgage Iā€™d sell up and move. Completely irrelevant.
            You didnā€™t answer my question!

        2. glen cullen
          November 10, 2021

          I’d go further, I’d re-negotiate every treaty and question the need for most of them

          1. Nottingham Lad Himself
            November 10, 2021

            You cannot compel the other side to renegotiate a treaty any more than you can compel someone from whom you have bought a house to agree later to a lower price and to give you back some of your money.

            Why are you so unable to grasp these simplest of facts of life?

          2. glen cullen
            November 10, 2021

            NLH
            We wish to renegotiate our treaty; do you agree – YES …okay good
            We wish to renegotiate our treaty; do you agree – NO …okay goodbye treaty cancelled

          3. Peter2
            November 10, 2021

            It’s a false analogy NHL
            The NI Protocol isn’t the same as negotiations on a house sale price.
            Surely you know this?

          4. Nottingham Lad Himself
            November 11, 2021

            If you agree, say, a divorce settlement and then wish to renegotiate that, then that requires the consent of the other side.

            So does its CANCELLATION.

            Otherwise the other side can simply enforce the original contract.

            Just because grovelling employees in Tory Britain are used to employers being allowed to tear up their contracts – by Statute – does not mean that is how the rest of the world works over such things.

          5. a-tracy
            November 11, 2021

            NLH haven’t you heard of “The Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations 2008”?

            “The seller cannot mislead the buyer by providing incorrect or ambiguous information in the Property Information Form, or by omitting to provide material information.

            Additionally, if the seller holds information of an adverse nature ā€“ perhaps a poor survey, a planning problem, or a covenant in the property deeds ā€“ these may well also need to be volunteered. If the seller falls short on any of these obligations, the buyer may have rights of redress, including in some circumstances a right to undo the sale and/or claim damages.”

          6. dixie
            November 12, 2021

            @NLH – “If you agree, say, a divorce settlement and then wish to renegotiate that, then that requires the consent of the other side.”
            That is not the case here. The NIP specifically allows for unilateral action to address disruption to the UK internal market and the rights of NI citizens, it is Article 16 “Safeguards”.
            You didn’t have any problems at all with the EU invoking Article 16 to threaten the UK with withholding lawful and contractual exports of vaccines to NI, so why all the hysterics now.

      2. glen cullen
        November 10, 2021

        Correct we should blame Boris, his government, his party and his backbenches for the NIP and spliting the Union….no one else to blame it was their decision and their decision alone
        We know that Boris isn’t the man of the hour…its up to his party grey leadership to change things

        1. dixie
          November 12, 2021

          When considering apportioning blame you might consider that Michael Gove had a big hand in the NIP (see December 2020 Northern Ireland Protocol – Command Paper, CP346)

      3. dixie
        November 12, 2021

        The NIP explicitly allows for any disruptions to the UK internal market and the rights of NI UK citizens, according to the interpretation of the UK, to be addressed unilaterally and discussed by the Joint Committee – see Article 16 “Safeguards”.

    2. Sir Joe Soap
      November 10, 2021

      Now we can’t even plant oak trees in NI. So much for the green rubbish. Where does Caroline Lucas and her green buddies stand on that one?

      1. Lifelogic
        November 10, 2021

        The only reason to find out Caroline Lucasā€™s position on any issue is to be virtually certain which is the wrong side of any argument.

    3. Old Salt
      November 10, 2021

      SW
      They, the eu, are having a laugh.

      1. Nottingham Lad Himself
        November 10, 2021

        Yes, they are, and four hundred and fifty million people are in a wonderful position to do exactly that, and justifiably.

        1. Peter2
          November 10, 2021

          You including Poland and Hungary and Catalonian Spain in your confident assertion NHL?

          1. hefner
            November 10, 2021

            What have Poles, Hungarians and Catalans to do with the EU-UK present problems, with comment initiated not by NLH but OS.
            Your usual dead cat strategy, but I admit, it is stupid, but you are good at it.

          2. Peter2
            November 11, 2021

            You seem a bit dense hef.
            NHL was asserting that all 450 million people were in harmony with all the EU decides to do.
            I was showing that many people in the EU do not always agree with the way the EU behaves.
            I speak with European companies who are angry the way the EU is making trade with the UK deliberately more difficult.
            Sorry to hear about your cat.

  12. alan jutson
    November 10, 2021

    Then ask the EU to explain its actions and its thinking., but for goodness sake just get on with it.
    If the UK government are not satisfied with the answers, then take action to resolve it, and if that means as a last resort triggering Article 16 then just do it.
    You are not breaking any international agreements if the other party has already broken the terms and conditions of it, and have been warned in advance of the consequences.
    Unfortunately this is what happens when you try and fudge a deal, with interpretation not being absolutely clear to both sides at the outset.

    1. Andy
      November 10, 2021

      The EU hasnā€™t broken the agreement.

      The problems Mr Redwood is moaning about are caused by his Brexit.

      He was warned about these problems but he promoted this Brexit, campaigned for election on this Brexit, voted for this Brexit – and now moans about the Brexit he imposed on everybody else.

      1. Beecee
        November 10, 2021

        Hello Andy. I assume you live in England? If so, you live in a country whereby the majority voted to leave the EU.

        If you do not like it – either go somewhere else or try to make it work with your clear negotiating skills or, even better, shut up carping that you hate being in the minority!

        1. Nottingham Lad Himself
          November 10, 2021

          What has your irrelevant comment to do with the plain matters of fact that Andy states?

          His point is that these facts reveal the endlessly-whingeing brexit puritans for exactly what they are.

          Not even mature enough to own the utter mess of their own, and absolutely only of their own, making, that is.

          1. Peter2
            November 10, 2021

            Love it when 2 trolls agree.

  13. Peter
    November 10, 2021

    I am sure I am not the only one who is tired of all the reporting around Article 16.

    Lots of threats and counter threats. Deadlines that keep being extended.

    Then nothing happens.

    1. Nottingham Lad Himself
      November 10, 2021

      The people of NI voted handsomely to stay in the European Union.

      The present position gives businesses there an edge over those in the rest of the UK.

      They would rather have union with RoI than to scrap the whole thing in many cases.

      1. a-tracy
        November 10, 2021

        NLH but they are still in the United Kingdom so they can’t have both the EU and the UK and this matter is just coming up to a head and they will ultimately decide which is what Blair, the EU and all the global organisations wanted in my humble opinion.

      2. Richard1
        November 10, 2021

        The Belfast agreement is very clear that there can be a union for NI with the RoI (& therefore with the EU) if – but only if – the majority vote for it. There is no pressure for a border poll at the moment as the republicans know they would lose. (Theyā€™d probably lose in the RoI also due to the cost). The majority prefer to remain in a union with the U.K. the problem with whatā€™s going on now is the EU are trying to prise NI out of the U.K. without such a vote, breaching article 1 of the Belfast agreement.

    2. Bryan Harris
      November 10, 2021

      +1

    3. Ian Wragg
      November 10, 2021

      Just like Ptiti useless and the channel taxi service. Lots of talk and no action.

  14. Lifelogic
    November 10, 2021

    Indeed, but did anyone sensible expect that they would not abuse the deal and try to annex NI? The blame largely lies with the dreadful approach of Teresa May, the remoaners and all those Benn Act traitors who left the Boris Gov. and UK in such a weak position.

    Even so we would surely have been better just to leave on WTO terms and make agreements as needed from that position.

    You rightly say:- Article 16 allows the UK or the EU to take unilateral action to remedy issues where there are ā€œserious economic, social or environmental difficultiesā€ or where trade is diverted. These tests are clearly met.

    But does this essentially socialist, climate alarmist, tax to death government have the political will or competence to act? The answer to this, as with illegal immigration, sensible economic and energy policies seems to be no. Just lots of huffing and puffing.

    1. SM
      November 10, 2021

      +1

    2. Fedupsoutherner
      November 10, 2021

      Quite so L/L. Good answer to Andys post. There is no way true Brexiteers would gave negotiated this deal. It was the remainers that mucked and muddied the waters while being dishonest with the public.

      1. No Longer Anonymous
        November 10, 2021

        FUS. Sorry. But as soon as the Tories appointed Theresa May I knew that Brexit was over. I even said so on this site. My heart sank.

        It was a stitch up.

        1. glen cullen
          November 10, 2021

          +1

        2. Fedupsoutherner
          November 10, 2021

          NLA. Yes I realise that. Only an idiot couldn’t see what was going to happen. May was not for Brexit and many others tried to ruin it. Brexit should have been a great opportunity but it has been wasted.

      2. Lifelogic
        November 10, 2021

        +1

      3. Sharon
        November 10, 2021

        FedupS

        +1

    3. Sir Joe Soap
      November 10, 2021

      Huffing and puffing and no action have been relied on by the EU all the way through this process with Cameron, then May, Benn, Robbins & Co. and now Johnson & Co. What’s the point in being in government but not in power?

      1. Lifelogic
        November 10, 2021

        Very true. Why on earth did cast rubber Cameron recommend to the public his pathetic & worthless ā€œthin gruelā€ EU deal?

        1. glen cullen
          November 10, 2021

          Which wasn’t in the referendum

          Nb. I’m still waiting for this government to satisfy & settle the conditions of the referendum

    4. Mark J
      November 10, 2021

      +1

      Lots of tough talk from this Government but that is all it ever seems to be. No tough action on the issues you have listed.

      Signed:
      A former Conservative Voter.

  15. Nig l
    November 10, 2021

    And in a similar vein, a well known trick when in political trouble re release an announcement that you think will impress your waverers and pressurise your opponents, the Treasury is going to have a bonfire of EU regulation concerning the City to protect it and turbo charge its competitiveness.

    If you read into it, it is only a consultation document and even when/if enacted nothing is expected immediately.

    How long have they had to do this, why the wait? Just like the NI protocol, empty gestures.

    This government with Boris as a prime example is like a Hollywood film set. A row of frontages with nothing substantial behind.

    1. glen cullen
      November 10, 2021

      Correct – Boris doesn’t want you talking about the NIP he wants you to be talking about cycle lanes and the success of cop26

  16. MPC
    November 10, 2021

    But Mr Johnson is running into the distance with his fingers in his ears about this and about the channel migrant crisis. Heā€™s far too busy saving the world with Cop 26 to do anything about issues that matter to those who voted for him.

    1. Lifelogic
      November 10, 2021

      Indeed and his/Carrieā€™s COP26, net zero ā€œsolutionsā€ are far, far more damaging than any likely climate changes and not really a solution to this non climate problem anyway. It is just politics, vested interests and religion as usual. The excellent THERE IS NO CLIMATE CRISIS by David Craig is worth reading, he is sound on on Education, Charities, Banking, Management Consultancy in his other books too.

      Nigel Lawson is absolutely correct in every line of his Spectator article this week. Most sensible and independent (& not suffering grant seeking/group think) mathematicians, scientists & engineers that I know agree too. The less science people know the more they believe in the endless ā€œBBC thinkā€ Greta propaganda.

      1. Nota#
        November 10, 2021

        @MPC & @LifeLogic – The BBC has on its website a list of who and what’s been agreed at COP26. It is quite evenly split, those that it will effect most economically and yet create the greatest amount of Global Warming have not made any commitments or shown interest – they have basically ignored this UN/Boris ego trip. Those that whatever they do cant effect the situation as imagined, have agreed to everything – something of entitlement emerging the rich Countries will have to pay. Just $100billion to be extracted each year to be given away.

        Without an economy to fund these asperations nothing can be achieved. Although with the tax and spend Boris he appears to believe that it is not the economy that creates wealth, but as with the legend of King John its simply the amount of tax you can extract from the surfs.

      2. glen cullen
        November 10, 2021

        All last week the Cop26 conference was telling us that weā€™d all DIE if the global temperature rise was 1.5 degree
        But today theyā€™ve moved the goalposts and are angry that the global temperate might hit a rise of 2.2 degreeā€¦. thought we were all going to DIE
        They really are the crazies with the sandwich board saying weā€™re all doomed

        1. Micky Taking
          November 10, 2021

          You misunderstand. Most are going to die after a 1.5 degree rise. Those that survived will die after the 2.2 degree rise is reached.
          I hope that helps you follow how we’ll be affected?

      3. Dennis
        November 10, 2021

        Mentioning Greta what happened to the German teenager Naomi Seibt who opposed Greta’s stance?

        1. Dennis
          November 10, 2021

          No news about her – she’s disappeared.

        2. Lester_Cynic
          November 10, 2021

          Dennis

          Sheā€™s still on YouTube and Iā€™ve just subscribed to her channel , her last post was about 5 days ago

  17. The Prangwizard
    November 10, 2021

    ‘Boris’ is too weak and cowardly to confront the EU and put the UK and of course Northern Ireland first.

    He is a gutless appeaser and just wants an excuse to concede so he can get behind a podium and make one of his ridiculous grandstanding speeches.

    1. Beecee
      November 10, 2021

      There is a rumour that he has now backed down on fishing (an extra 100 licences?) which, given it has all gone quiet, may have some substance to it.

  18. Pud
    November 10, 2021

    If the EU can restrict free movement of goods clearly destined for Northern Ireland on the spurious grounds that they might end up in the Republic of Ireland then surely the UK can retaliate with the lorries from the Republic that use the UK as a land bridge to reach mainland Europe.

    1. Nota#
      November 10, 2021

      @Pud – to logical, but it does show that the UK is more than prepared to honour, not just the Belfast Agreement but the Spirit of it as well. Unfortunately the rulers of the RoI the EU were never party to the agreement (just inherited it) and as such they have no reason to abide by the good intentions.

    2. Peter Parsons
      November 10, 2021

      No, as that would be totally illegal.

      Despite that, the Port of Dublin is now facing capacity challenges, in that it is struggling to meet the demand for all the new services that various companies are wanting to run between Dublin and other EU member states which bypass the UK entirely. If I was a small business owner in Anglesey, I’d be worried about the potential drop in trade.

      1. dixie
        November 10, 2021

        “illegal”? Under what law?

        1. Peter Parsons
          November 12, 2021

          Under international law on the transportation of goods.

          1. dixie
            November 12, 2021

            Exactly which “international law on the transportation of goods”?

            It would be reasonable and lawful, even under TIR (Transport International de Marchandises par la Route) for example to levy a fee and require appropriate documentation and inspections for the use of UK property and assets for that transport, ie the road and rail system.
            Further we could require they meet UK regulations such as the transportation of live animals, chemicals etc.
            I believe our minimum position should be reflective – every regulation, restriction or cost, no matter how small, the EU imposes on our trade should and must be imposed on theirs.

    3. Brinkley
      November 10, 2021

      Ah the lorries from Ireland are using the land bridge much less now – instead goods are being shipped direct to european ports – and I suppose after article 16 is invoked I think that this trend will increase

      1. X-Tory
        November 10, 2021

        GOOD!! Another Brexit gain! I always hated the way these Irish lorries congest our roads, pollute our air and slow trade between Dover and Calais. The fewer that come here the better. They are of ZERO benefit to the UK.

        1. Pietr
          November 10, 2021

          Plans are already in place for some of the ferries to be deployed.. and with the expectation that article 16 will be activated the EU will put aside the trade agreement already in place putting us all to WTO rules – but just as our host has always wanted – so from then on our trade outwards will be mostly through Felixstowe and Southampton by container and other such – RoRo through Calais for instance will be a thing of the past – aLso any pretension to JIT

        2. Blithespirit
          November 10, 2021

          If you want to know how slow trade can get between dover and calais – just think article 16

          1. dixie
            November 12, 2021

            All those German and French vehicles cars not getting delivered because Macron is peeved over fish and the EU elite place themselves beyond everyone in Europe… that will go down well in Wolfsburg.

    4. Nottingham Lad Himself
      November 10, 2021

      Far fewer lorries are doing that now than once did.

      The European Union – or its member country – has staunchly assisted its other loyal member Ireland with direct ferry links.

      All you brexiters want to do on the other hand is to cause endless needless trouble of every imaginable kind.

    5. Old Salt
      November 10, 2021

      Pud
      What when some lorries offload within UK?

    6. a-tracy
      November 10, 2021

      Wow, Pud, you created a pile on, maybe you are on to something.

      Are the same checks on goods coming in from the EU including S Ireland in place yet? I thought Boris kicked that can down the road again. Perhaps this is in abeyance until other importation channels are worked out for essential produce.

      1. Peter2
        November 10, 2021

        Yes Tracy I agree.
        When all the pro EU fanatics on here post in opposition then you know you are onto something.

  19. acorn
    November 10, 2021
    1. X-Tory
      November 10, 2021

      Thank you for that link. That was a most entertaining and illuminating read. It begins by stating what the two main objectives and purposes of the Protocol are. It states that this:

      (i) “Avoids a hard border between Ireland and Northern Ireland”. But the lack of a ‘hard border’ was guaranteed anyway, given that both the UK and the RoI have clearly stated that they will NOT build one. So the Protocol does not give us anything new.

      (ii) “ensures the integrity of the EUā€™s Single Market”. But why the F… should the UK, or anyone in the UK, care about the “integrity of the Single Market”? This doesn’t affect us in any way. And how notable that the ‘integrity of the UK’s internal market’ is not mentioned even once!

      So thank you once again for that link, which PROVES that the NI Protocol only benefits the EU, is only designed to benefit the EU, and completely ignores the interests of the UK. So this also proves that the Protocol should never have been agreed by the UK in the first place, and the sooner Boris the Betrayer scraps it the better!

  20. Nota#
    November 10, 2021

    There’s a surpriseā€¦.. The EU Commission making up its own rules, regulations and laws to suit its own self esteem with the knowledge that the only Court (the ECJ) is not independent and bends with the will and interpretation of the Commission. Then Hey-Ho, the Commission is not responsible or held to account. The EU Parliament of appointed ‘for you’ MEP’s cannot, amend, or repeal the Commissions offerings they are there just to rubber stamp them.

    Back here in the UK we need to become a proper Democracy, a representative democracy with our rules, regulations and laws being created by our elected representatives and no one else. We even have the bare bones of an independent legal system sitting there waiting. The UK’s problems are the Political Elite and the Establishment, their egos and self esteem has run amok, its been contaminated the EU Commissions version of rule. Every avenue of all activities that receive taxpayer funding should have an accountable individual at the helm. The Ludacris idea in todays world of an upper house of appointees is insulting as such it is a distorted view of democracy, even those with good intentions are complicit in a Government lead by corruption.

    To many people want to be heard, but not contribute, want or more correctly demand entitlement but not be held to account. What ever way you shake it out the establishment is participating in the largest corruption of a Country there has ever been in the UK.

    The system as it is being made up on the hoof solely to suit ego and not the Country and its economy. Quite simply the people want there Country back

  21. Atlas
    November 10, 2021

    “EU apologise”?

    Hmm, given their track record, I would hold out much hope of that.

    1. Atlas
      November 10, 2021

      A correction: For “I would hold out much hope of that”

      please read “I would NOT hold out much hope of that”

  22. Bryan Harris
    November 10, 2021

    The EU should do more than apologise

    Frost is probably the best we have to counteract the EU, but either he is not pressing his advantages or the cabinet/Boris is holding him back — He certainly needs to be seen to be thumping the table more often and getting is way.

    Enough of the theatricals, time we got very positive about sorting the EU issues out.

    1. graham1946
      November 10, 2021

      My guess is on Boris holding him back, same as I believe he is holding Priti Patel back regarding the illegal criminals.

      1. glen cullen
        November 10, 2021

        Boris is holding the country back

        1. Fedupsoutherner
          November 10, 2021

          Glen. And Carrie is holding Boris back.

          1. Micky Taking
            November 10, 2021

            Carrie worships at the St Greta altar.

          2. glen cullen
            November 10, 2021

            Just for clarification I have no relationship with Carrie

          3. Micky Taking
            November 11, 2021

            holding him back? – probably pushing him forward with all her strength.

      2. Bryan Harris
        November 10, 2021

        +1

    2. Martyn G
      November 10, 2021

      I met Boris a couple of times when he was my MP – once socially and again when taking him around the school of which I am a governor. I am staggered at how much he has changed since then.
      I now think that he has little interest in NI and maybe hopes or intends for it to eventually join the ROI and thus the EU.
      iIlegal immigration? When did anyone hear BJ speak out against the thousands of illegal aliens crossing the channel and taken ashore, or say anything positive about UK fishing waters?
      These are three important areas with which the EU or France is meddling in and for which he shows little or no interest. It cannot be incompetence, so it must be by intent, which to say the least, is an alarming thought.

      1. Bryan Harris
        November 10, 2021

        +1

  23. George Brooks.
    November 10, 2021

    We have arrived at this impasse due to two mis-guided and ill judged actions by the EU Commission.

    1) Regardless of any agreement, they have been and are ‘hell bent’ on punishing us for Brexit as they know we will run rings round them and end up far stronger in world at large
    2) Using us as an example to dissuade any other state from attempting to leave the EU.

    They arrived at these conclusions by listening too much to Sinn Fein and totally under-estimating the resolve of the NI people in particular and the UK in general for Northern Ireland to remain part of the UK.

    The EU has clearly broken the agreement and these ancillary disputes over fishing are no more than a vein attempt to cloud the issue. Article 16 should be triggered and we should defend our fish stocks regardless of what Macron may or may not do

    1. Shirley M
      November 10, 2021

      Not just Sinn Fein, George. There was a steady stream of UK politicians ‘consulting’ with the EU how to overturn the referendum, or keep the UK under EU control. It still happens today, in particular Nicola Sturgeon! These are the people who took away all our bargaining power and then complain about the results!

      1. rose
        November 10, 2021

        Listening to the subversive peers this am was like being back in 2017-19. They haven’t given up.

    2. Old Salt
      November 10, 2021

      GB
      NI reunification looming.

  24. majorfrustration
    November 10, 2021

    The Westminster crowd still appear to be treating the NIA as something of a game whilst the people of NI suffer. Political normal.

  25. Nota#
    November 10, 2021

    Northern Ireland Protocol and the Withdrawal Agreement conditions have not been met by the EU Commission. Then remembering Barnier stating the ‘nothing is agreed until everything is agreed’ – there is a massive list of just simple parts of the trade agreement that still haven’t been sorted. ‘Services’ comes to mind. The only continuation of trade that has been talked about so far is what the UK will buy from the EU, not what the EU will accept from the UK – very unbalanced.

  26. agricola
    November 10, 2021

    So what are we waiting for. I can only surmise that among our establishment there is a yearning for a love affaire that has long gone. Just do it.

  27. Denis Cooper
    November 10, 2021

    It may be recalled that both Michael Gove and Brandon Lewis celebrated the fact that Northern Ireland would still be effectively in the EU Single Market and would therefore get ā€œthe best of both worldsā€.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-jxViSQRL08

    https://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/northern-ireland/brandon-lewis-bbc-question-time-remark-on-nis-eu-opportunities-has-twitter-in-a-spin-39999028.html

    Which is a strange idea, given that it was decided that the rest of the UK would be better off out of the Single Market. Still, it was good of them to hand that stick to the EU and the Irish government so that they could beat us with it; which the Irish broadcaster RTE does today, not for the first time:

    https://www.rte.ie/news/brexit/2021/1109/1258931-ni-protocol-manufacturing/

    “NI Protocol ‘best of both worlds’ say manufacturers”

    We come back to the same thing, that the whole of the UK/NI economy must be run for the convenience of the small minority of companies that export to the EU.

    And always with suitable exaggerations to press the point, for example in this case:

    “Northern Ireland’s manufacturers bring in Ā£15 billion worth of external income.”

    when that is about five times the total exports to the Irish Republic, and dwarfed by Northern Irish exports to the rest of the UK and to the rest of the world outside the EU – much of the latter on WTO terms.

    1. rose
      November 10, 2021

      It was also Lewis who spoke in the House of breaking international law when we were doing no such thing.

      Reply Yes, that was a strange mis statement by the NI Secretary.

      1. dixie
        November 12, 2021

        Asserting beyond authority – a common infliction of the autocrat and euphilic mindset, the left suffer so terribly with it.

  28. Nota#
    November 10, 2021

    From the MsM –

    No English Oak trees can be imported from Britain to be planted in Northern Ireland to mark the Queenā€™s Platinum Jubilee because of protocol rules.
    British nurseries were stopped from exporting 21 species of trees, including English Oak, yew, beech, honeysuckle and elm, to Northern Ireland and the EU when Brexit took legal effect on December 31.

    And were is the Government of all of the UK? – of seeking out personal ego trips rather than Governing the Country that they accepted as their duty?

    1. a-tracy
      November 10, 2021

      Nota, why can’t trees go to N Ireland if they are planted in N Ireland and have identified spots that this is done? Easily checked by the EU should they choose to?

      This is where it is just ridiculous and all these EU appeasers on here – think this is acceptable!

  29. a-tracy
    November 10, 2021

    Your government is doing that ‘thing’ that failing parents do, make empty threats to achieve a change.

    A parent should only threaten retaliation action i.e. I’ll take your video game off you for a month if you continue to misbehave. If you are prepared to do it and stick to it.

    Line up all your ducks in a row first, get replacement providers for essential items, get more essential manufacturing done in the UK by tempting them over here. (Oh, you’re putting corporation and employment taxes up!)

    Idle threats before Christmas is weak. Just stop talking and make alternative workaround actions first.

    Be sure Northern Ireland wants all this trouble and effort though, they like to sit straddling both the EU and the UK, Scotland wants want Southern Ireland gets and England gets pushed aside as always by your Government and walked over with Free movement of goods for them, free movement of people, ability to claim benefits, get operations in the UK, vote in the UK. Enough of this.

  30. acorn
    November 10, 2021

    The Wednesday front page of the de-facto government opposition; the Daily Mail, headlines a US based global asset stripper attempting to gobble up LV= Insurance. In the same manner as Morrisons supermarkets. (The headline for the Member of Parliament for the Virgin Islands looks terminal also.)

    A phrase removed from the Spiv City dictionary is ā€œasset strippingā€. Yet the last eleven years has seen it relabelled as ā€œprivate equityā€ and turbocharged by the UKā€™s Conservative Party in government. If a large plc owns a lot of its own property, then it is ripe for a private equity take-over. It will then strip out that property and leave that company paying a lot of new rent and stuffed with a lot of new debt.

    UK company Price to Earnings ratios has been below average throughout the Conservative governmentā€™s decade of fiscal austerity. This makes them ripe for asset strippers. Remember there are no border restriction for capital movements in or out of the UK or any of its tax havens.

    Meanwhile, the UK electorate will keep voting for more of the same! Not caring that its new found sovereignty and freedoms; yet to be identified in any physical form, are being sold off from underneath them.

    1. Mark B
      November 10, 2021

      +1

    2. Peter2
      November 10, 2021

      Do you want only UK individuals and businesses to be allowed to buy in the UK acorn?
      Have you thought through the effects of that?

      1. dixie
        November 12, 2021

        I am happy for a degree of inward investment but there must be at leat mutual benefit, not the rape and pillage that has been going on while the only UK beneficiaries enjoy BVI lifestyles and protections.

  31. Steven
    November 10, 2021

    The prospects for the British situation in all of this must be pretty serious now especially when we see a well known parliamentarian writing in this fashion. Reminds me of the DUP when they want to ramp things up without thinking about the consequences.

  32. Mactheknife
    November 10, 2021

    The bottom line here is that we don’t have a Conservative government.

    Sergeant Keith Sturmer would be proud to stand by the current tax, spend, greenwash, MaxVax agenda being implemented.

    Where has the Conservative party gone ?

    1. glen cullen
      November 10, 2021

      ”Where has the Conservative party gone ?”
      Its gone green, woke, labour & dictatorial

      1. Micky Taking
        November 10, 2021

        search me – haven’t got a clue. On what basis were PP candidates selected last time?
        What were their credentials? What were their values?
        Were they declared Remainers or Leavers?
        Most likely they had mates in the Establishment who vouched for them being sheep, and would do as told!
        You reap what you sow – end of the Party?

  33. Original Richard
    November 10, 2021

    The Northern Ireland Protocol was designed by the EU together with the Remainers Mrs May, Mr. Robbins and others to cause problems for the exited UK and consequently is an unfair agreement which will not last.

    We donā€™t know why our PM has not implemented Article 16 when it is clear that the EU did not negotiate in good faith and are continually breaking the N.I. Agreement.

    Presumably there is something we have not been told, such as the threats we have received from the EU, or even from the POTUS, should we trigger Article 16.

    It was the then French President Hollande who said 07/10/2016 about Brexit :

    ā€œThere must be a threat, there must be a risk, there must be a price, otherwise we will be in negotiations that will not end well and, inevitably, will have economic and human consequences.ā€

    1. rose
      November 10, 2021

      I think they are indeed hesitating out of fear of what Macron will do next.

      1. Micky Taking
        November 11, 2021

        I’m shaking with fear.

  34. Richard1
    November 10, 2021

    I do not think itā€™s sensible or desirable for either the U.K. or for the EU and itā€™s member states to start a trade war, which is what the EU now threatens. Apart from the obvious bad economics, itā€™s bad for the unity and coherence of the West in the face of increasingly belligerent non-Democratic states like China and Russia.

    But it would have the advantage of bringing about real, ā€˜cleanā€™ Brexit, as if there had never been a deal. Then weā€™d have to see how it goes. If itā€™s the disaster forecast by the Remain establishment – or even if itā€™s clear that the major EU economies start to outperform the (completely independent) U.K. – then we would have to agree Brexit is a failure, and it isnā€™t possible for the U.K. to prosper as an independent economy like eg Canada or Singapore, we have to be part of a political and economic union with the EU.

    What Iā€™d be concerned about if I were, eg a prominent Brexit-supporting MP, is this govt isnā€™t (yet) doing anything to bring about conditions where the U.K. might prosper and out-perform the EU. On the contrary, with all the taxes, net zero green crap etc, it might be a very tricky thing to defend Brexit in a few years time.

    1. Nottingham Lad Himself
      November 10, 2021

      There is no more such a thing as a “clean” brexit than there is a pretty disembowelment, a neat and tidy jumbo jet crash, or a wholesome cesspit rupture.

      1. Peter2
        November 11, 2021

        I’ve finally worked it out NHL
        You voted remain.

        1. dixie
          November 12, 2021

          it voted remain because presumably it was happy with the “a pretty disembowelment, a neat and tidy jumbo jet crash, or a wholesome cesspit rupture.” being inflicted on the UK while we were members by parties operating under EU protection.

  35. Iain Moore
    November 10, 2021

    Apologises for being off topic but I gather Boris Johnson has banned diesel trucks from 2035-2040 for the lager ones. I know this might be a mere detail, but does he have any idea what he intends them to be replaced with? What ever it is going to cost us for they won’t be cheaper. A report that Johnson is back at Glasgow today that can only be met with severe depression as we contemplate what more damage he will inflict on our country for his eco extremism, especially as there is still another 2 days of this COP nightmare to survive

  36. Mark Thomas
    November 10, 2021

    Sir John,
    The EU Commission is a hostile actor. These zealots have only ill-will towards the UK. Once that is fully understood then everything they say and do makes sense.

  37. acorn
    November 10, 2021

    As yet another energy supplier goes bust, the price of electric today is 19.4 p/kWh at the UK end of the wires and 7.7 p/kWh at the Norway end. UK Gas is just a couple of pence above the Dutch price at 6.5 p/kWh. Welcome to electric Treasure Island.

    1. lukewarm
      November 10, 2021

      I’m down to 7 units per day. No gas.

      1. Peter2
        November 10, 2021

        No wonder you call yourself lukewarm.

        1. Micky Taking
          November 11, 2021

          in a few weeks the name will be changed to ‘shivering’.

          1. lukewarm
            November 12, 2021

            Stay cool is my motto and advice.

    2. dixie
      November 12, 2021

      My gas rate is very much less than what you quote

  38. Denis Cooper
    November 10, 2021

    Hot from the press, JR, you can probably pick up a copy:

    https://www.standard.co.uk/news/uk/northern-ireland-leo-varadkar-brexit-london-irish-government-b965401.html

    “EU trade war would be political bid to weaken Northern Irelandā€™s place in UK”

    Just a reminder that Northern Ireland’s place in the UK economy is at the 2% level, as the EU well knows:

    https://ec.europa.eu/growth/tools-databases/regional-innovation-monitor/base-profile/northern-ireland

    “… a Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of ā‚¬50.8b, which corresponds to 2.1% of the 2017 UK total … ”

    Therefore the EU must also know that its threatened “retaliation” against the whole UK economy as part of a dispute over economic management in Northern Ireland would certainly be grossly disproportionate, and probably a breach of both its external and internal treaty obligations.

    1. Denis Cooper
      November 10, 2021

      This is how we got into this mess – through UK politicians whose primary loyalty is to the EU:

      https://www.irishtimes.com/news/world/brexit/uk-triggering-article-16-would-very-aggressive-and-bombastic-move-hain-1.4724621

      “UK triggering Article 16 would ā€˜very aggressive and bombastic moveā€™ – Hain”

      https://www.standard.co.uk/news/uk/brexit-house-of-lords-boris-johnson-uk-government-leo-varadkar-b965415.html

      “No-deal Brexit back on table if Article 16 triggered, peers tell Dail committee”

      “The comments came at a joint meeting between the Oireachtas Committee on the implementation of the Good Friday Agreement with the House of Lords Committee and the Seanad Special Select Committee on Brexit on Wednesday.”

      Hain said:

      “If Lord Frost does announce the triggering of Article 16, that is a very aggressive and bombastic move by the British Government, that I ā€¦ fear has been coming for a while.

      ā€œWeā€™re going to need to work together with you parliamentarians across the Irish Sea to try and cope with the fallout because I think itā€™ll be significant.”

      So much for any Oath of Allegiance

      https://www.parliament.uk/about/how/elections-and-voting/swearingin/

      taken by Peter Hain and by others of his eurofederalist ilk.

      1. Denis Cooper
        November 10, 2021

        Oh, and at the end of the Irish Times article there is this:

        “Labour TD Brendan Howlin said the threat to trigger Article 16 was ā€œbafflingā€ … ”

        Well, I was baffled back in the autumn of 2019 when he was quoted as saying:

        https://www.rte.ie/news/2019/0930/1079268-reaction-non-paper/

        “No matter where you locate check sites – they amount to a hard border.”

        But not if the check sites are in Belfast and Larne, then they’re OK.

        1. Blithespirit
          November 10, 2021

          Howlin is a 1980’s has been from the Irish labour party holding 5 per cent of the popular vote.. jeez give us a break

          1. Denis Cooper
            November 11, 2021

            By all means take a break, if you want one.

          2. Micky Taking
            November 11, 2021

            For a moment there I got quite excited, I thought Howlin’ Wolf and his version of Smokestack Lightning. Then the reality set in…..what a letdown.

      2. Bytheway
        November 10, 2021

        Reply to Denis “This is how we got into this mess” – and this could be the way it’s going to end up

        We heard Lord Frost today in the Lords – nothing is more sure now but that he is building up to invoking article 16 – probably next week and in that case with the jurisdiction of the ECJ in NI removed the EU will then set aside the whole trade agreement for a future time.

        So then we’ll have UK trading with the EU on WTO rules – a border of sorts will have to be set up in the ROI probably in a five to ten mile buffer zone set back from the border a bit- however now we’ll see that there are not enough of Irish customs officials to patrol such a vast area therefore customs officials will have to be brought in from France from ports like Calais etc to help for a while etc until the Irish can train up their own – could be for a period of one to two years.

        Of course to ease the situation further on the island EU favoured status could be granted to various NI companies with long standing links in the milk and agri sectors so that they can continue to deal south of the border with minimum fuss and everone including the DUP will be happy – the way I see it

        1. Nottingham Lad Himself
          November 10, 2021

          You got into this mess by one thing, and by one alone – by voting Leave.

          Own it, for pity’s sake.

          1. Nottingham Lad Himself
            November 10, 2021

            * “You” meaning Denis.

          2. Denis Cooper
            November 10, 2021

            Don’t be silly, or at least any sillier than you have to be.

          3. Micky Taking
            November 11, 2021

            What is it with this nonsense use of ownership that keeps arising in our spoken and written English? You cannot own a view, an opinion, a political stance, a repercussion caused by an action.
            Voting is a choice, when taken it is an action not proof of ownership.
            Woke nonsense, why should I be surprised?

      3. a-tracy
        November 10, 2021

        This is why Denis, all the brexiteers are suddenly getting a pasting in the press. Cox, John Redwood, Laurence Robertson, Liam Fox and Chris Grayling. To try to bring them into line.

        If someone is willing to work 60-70 hours per week then what is it to others if they are fulfilling all their other MP duties and more as Redwood does. This sort of blatant jealousy by Labour is why I find their party so distasteful, they can’t be bothered to do it, or don’t have the skills to do it so no-one else should. Levelling everyone down to the base. Some of them couldn’t earn the sort of money that they do as an MP out in the real world.

        I’d never heard of Robertson before but I knew he’d be a leaver just to get mentioned.

  39. Donna
    November 10, 2021

    Johnson was warned about the likely consequences of the NI Protocol, he ignored the warnings…… presumably because former Remainer CONservative MPs had made it very clear that they would only back “the oven-ready to go deal” not a no deal Brexit.

    Martin Selmayr made it very clear that it was the EU’s intention that the price of a real Brexit would be Northern Ireland. OR we could remain within the EU’s regulatory control with a pretendy-Brexit, in which case the legal status of NI would remain the same because the UK would still be within the Single Market and Customs Union and effectively we would be largely governed by the EU as a satrapy.

    The only way to respond to the EU’s deliberate aggression IS to break free. That means invoking Article 16 and, probably, accepting the No Deal consequences. But Johnson doesn’t have the guts to do it or, I very much doubt, the backing of Remainer CONservative MPs to do it.

  40. BOF
    November 10, 2021

    Legitimizing that appalling May WA was always going to be abused by the EU and I am sure there will be more to come with the express purpose of causing damage to the UK.

    The only answer is, and should have been done to start with, is to tear it up and walk away from it, whatever the difficulties.

    The purpose of the WA is to keep us as closely tied to the EU as possible. The whole purpose of the vote to LEAVE was to be fully in control of our law makers and our country. What cowardice to sign away so much to a foreign power.

  41. Denis Cooper
    November 10, 2021
  42. glen cullen
    November 10, 2021

    ”China, the US and Germany are all absent from COP26ā€™s agreement aiming to eliminate new car emissions by 2040. Much like a lot of the agreements coming out of COP, the biggest players arenā€™t buying it.” NetZeroWatch

    Remember the Tory saying – nothing is agreed till everything is agreed….if the big boys aren’t signed up then nothing is really agreed (apart from the UK going ‘build back the stone-age’)

    1. glen cullen
      November 10, 2021

      ”India has thrown a spanner in the works at COP26 by holding back on its climate pledge until richer nations pay $1 trillion.”NetZeroWatch

      Did we agree to this ? was it in the manifesto ?

  43. Helen Smith
    November 10, 2021

    Hell will freeze over before the EU admits to any wrongdoing.

    1. Pietr
      November 10, 2021

      Heken Smith – Brexit was all of Britains doing ‘ it is a mess ‘- britain should never have joined in the first place but In the second place they should never have left as they did even with all the supports were in place for a soft landing – so now if this is going the way I see it going then there is only going to be one loser.

      1. Micky Taking
        November 11, 2021

        I agree with you, the EU will now have to battle with Poland, Hungary, and the others who were economically beaten up will watch with interest. Let the meltdown begin.

      2. dixie
        November 12, 2021

        I voted for us not to remain in 1975 and there was no “soft landing” option to leaving in 2016, unless you really mean actually staying in the EU but without a say on laws and regulations – which is what they have imposed on Northern Ireland.

    2. bill brown
      November 10, 2021

      Helan Smith

      By changing the Protocal they have admitted thier implementation wa wrong, but they did not come up with the idea of the NI Protocol in the first place

  44. Original Richard
    November 10, 2021

    Off-topic if I may :

    Message please for Sakara Gold :

    I took a look just now at the amount of electricity currently being generated by wind (10/11/2021 at 15:37 hrs).

    It is 5.07% and it this intermittency, both over the short term and the long term, coupled with very large fluctuations, which have to be met by fossil fuel generators which make the supply of electricity ever more expensive the greater the number of wind turbines added to the grid.

    In fact, it can even be argued that intermittency is so great that with the efficiency of fossil fuel generators reduced because theyā€™re being switched on and off or kept hot running that wind turbines do not in fact reduce any CO2 emissions.

    Unfortunately there is as yet no economic technology for non-fossil fuel grid scale back-up for wind turbines other than hydro-electricity and the UK does not have the rain and geography necessary to have a successful wind turbine/hydroelectric power combination.

    1. DavidJ
      November 10, 2021

      Indeed Richard, time for common sense and real science to prevail over the green nonsense.

  45. Micky Taking
    November 10, 2021

    OFF TOPIC.
    One of Germany’s top virologists has warned that a further 100,000 people will die from Covid if nothing’s done to halt an aggressive fourth wave. Case numbers have soared and Germany on Wednesday registered its highest rate of infection since the pandemic began, with almost 40,000 cases in a day. “We have to act right now,” said Christian Drosten, who described a real emergency situation.
    Doctors in the intensive care Covid ward at Leipzig University Hospital warn this fourth wave could be the worst yet. One patient here, a woman in her 20s, has just given birth. Her baby is fine, but staff say they don’t know whether she’ll survive.
    This state of Saxony has the highest seven-day infection rate in Germany at 459 cases per 100,000 people. The national rate is 232. It also has the lowest take-up of vaccine: 57% of the population here have been immunised.

    1. cool
      November 10, 2021

      Drosten is Germany’s equivalent to Ferguson.
      German Language school in my town texted yesterday for Brit hosts for their
      Schoolkids 5 day breaks starting February.

      1. Micky Taking
        November 11, 2021

        any takers?

  46. bill brown
    November 10, 2021

    Sir JR,

    I do not understand your suggestion that the new EU propositon requires permanent border posts to the Republic, this is not how I red the new EU proposals. But, eys they ahve not proposed to remove 80% of the controls, so maybe, an apology would be appropriate.
    Jus like an apology from the government to propsoe such a messy protocal in the rist place and then antoher apology from the government and the Brexiteers for bringing us in this situation in the first place without a Plan A or B to get us out of this mess. And then maybe another apology from the government, by using the Protocol mess to cover up all their own internal sleaze.
    Yes, there are a lot of apologies owed but using the 16, will just make it even worse for all partis concerned and it solves nothing, it just ends us in Britain costing even more than the 4% of GDP (according to the OBR) , which we cannot afford.

    Reply The EU document tells us to construct border posts. Try reading it.

    1. Bill brown
      November 10, 2021

      This is a proviso not for an actual border but a post as they support the peace agreement 100 pct as this should not be implemented again

      reply You clearly have not read the EU non paper nor realise where they want the physical border! Try Commenting on things you understand.

      1. Bill Smith
        November 11, 2021

        Sir JR,

        silly allegation left out ed
        I have looked in the document from the EU and have not been able to find what you refer to in terms of physical barriers

        Reply I was quoting from the “Non paper” they issued

        1. Bill brown
          November 11, 2021

          No the allegation is factual if you don’t want to admit it is not my problem
          I can’t comment on a non paper and but l have my doubts as nobody wants a physical barrier including the EU

          1. Micky Taking
            November 11, 2021

            I do! A proper barrier , bricks, steel, barbed wire? Why not.
            USA lead the way, Poland is under siege.
            Detail checks on arrival at airports, docks, railway tunnels….
            If necessary detention on a remote island.

  47. dixie
    November 10, 2021

    So much flak John from so many new euphilics, you must be over the target … most definitely so with your recent blogs.

  48. DavidJ
    November 10, 2021

    This is excellent news provided that the correct response ensues. That, of course, is to bin the agreement and remove all EU control from all parts of the UK.

    1. Bill brown
      November 11, 2021

      And the cost to us Will be enormous

  49. Peter2
    November 10, 2021

    You must be on the right lines Sir John.
    The EU fanatics are going mad.

  50. Bill brown
    November 10, 2021

    David j

    Our useless government signed and proposed the protocol outline

    1. a-tracy
      November 11, 2021

      Bill, I don’t believe you are British, your keyboard is set to a foreign text and causes you repeated spelling errors, yet you write ‘our useless government’ when all you do on this board is post anti-UK messages.

      If an agreement, treaty, protocol doesn’t work for your Country do you believe you have to stick with it for life? Does your beloved EU do that and never change, modify, repeal, or renegotiate treaties, protocols, agreements?

      1. Bill brown
        November 11, 2021

        A-tracy

        So you start playing the foreign card when someone disagrees with you
        How simple and embarrassing

        1. Peter2
          November 11, 2021

          Ridiculous retort to tracy by you Billy.
          All she said was do European countries ever alter or walk away from treaties when they are seen to be really bad.
          Nothing like playing the foreigner card.

        2. a-tracy
          November 11, 2021

          I donā€™t try to pretend to be something Iā€™m not Bill brown. Agree or Disagree with Brexit we have to try and do the best for OUR country, the United Kingdom, just putting our Country down all the time doesnā€™t help anyone.

          Please answer my question, or is it too revealing.

  51. Blithespirit
    November 10, 2021

    As I said before article 16 will not be invoked- it is only a bluff – the caucus on the hill would not approve.

    1. Bill brown
      November 11, 2021

      I am British and I don’t think much of your insulting remarks

  52. Lindsay McDougall
    November 11, 2021

    So why don’t we UNILATERALLY scrap the Northern Island protocol? All that we owe the Republic, and then only as a matter of courtesy, is notification of containers and consignments transiting NI on their way to the Republic. If the Republic, at the behest of the EU, erectsborder controls, we could shoot them down. What would be acceptable is for the Republic to select about four Customs sites at least 10 miles inside Republican territory, to which trucks from NI would have to report.

    This is but one example of a general theme. We have taken back sovereignty but are not yet exercising it. We don’t need to retain the post-Maastricht EU Directives and Laws that have generally favoured German technology, French bureaucracy, big business and incumbent businesses. And we don’t need to let our defence and foreign policy be determined by America. If we want to do a deal with Iran, we should do so. We would pay Iran money that we undoubtedly owe them and they would release ALL of our hostages. That’s not the same as giving in to blackmail. And there is no need to ask Joe Biden’s permission. He is no friend of Britain.

  53. Bill brown
    November 11, 2021

    I am British and I don’t think much of your insulting remarks

    1. Peter2
      November 11, 2021

      So you keep saying billy.

    2. a-tracy
      November 11, 2021

      Where were you born Bill?

  54. Freeborn John
    November 12, 2021

    The U.K. has to hold firm and remove ECJ jurisdiction from the Northern Ireland Protocol. Brussels is only motivated by a desire to interfere in U.K. affairs at no cost to itself in order to extract political concessions and encourage the U.K. to follows its law as we were still a member. The NIP will continue to inflict poison into U.K. / EU affairs indefinitely.

    The only stable solution is for the republic to leave the EU and for there to be an open border for goods in the same way as there is for people. Until Ireland leaves the EU, Northern Ireland should be treated as any other part of the U.K. and we should trade with the EU on WTO terms.

  55. Freeborn John
    November 12, 2021

    Sky news are reporting the EU expect agreement on the Northern Ireland Protocol after a “change of tone” from Lord Frost. It will be completely unacceptable if ECJ jurisdiction remains over any part of the U.K. or if the ECJ is the arbitrator of disputes between the EU and U.K. Boris Johnson has to grow a backbone and deliver brexit for the whole of the U.K. and finally say No to the EU and mean it.

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