I reproduce below the worries the European Scrutiny Committee has concerning the Northern Ireland Protocol, which are similar to the issues I have raised with the government:
Areas of concern
22. Our invitation to the Prime Minister remains open and we can flexibly accommodate
his appearance over the course of the coming week. We have identified a number of
significant areas of concern about which the House should be further informed. These
include:
⢠the amount and extent of EU law that would remain applicable in Northern
Ireland under the Windsor Framework;
⢠the operation of the âStormont Brakeâ and whether it would act effectively as a
full stop on new EU law which amends or replaces EU law applicable in Northern
Ireland, or whether it merely amounts to the insertion of an additional process
into the current schema, as created by the Northern Ireland Protocol;
⢠the operation of âredâ and âgreenâ lanes and the practical implications of the
Windsor Framework for the people and businesses of Northern Ireland and the
extent of CJEU jurisdiction over these;
⢠how, if at all, the Windsor Framework alters the jurisdiction of the CJEU over
the entirety of the Northern Ireland Protocol, including arrangements for UK/
EU arbitration which engage questions on the application and interpretation of
EU law;
⢠the placing of goods on the Northern Ireland market made to UK, not EU,
standards;
⢠VAT arrangements; and
⢠how the Windsor Framework deals with the granting of UK State aid.
23. We wrote to the Prime Minister on the first point on 2 March requesting a definitive
list of the EU rules that would remain applicable in Northern Ireland under the terms of
the Windsor Framework.14 This letter was sent on the back of a commitment the Prime
Minister made to one of our members, Rt Hon. David Jones MP, on 27 February.15
24. We again urgently request a definitive list of the EU rules that would remain
applicable in Northern Ireland under the terms of the Windsor Framework.
25. We ask that the Government expedite its response to this Report owing to the
legal and political significance of the issues it raises.
March 18, 2023
Yes itâs all gone quiet on the Protocol.
Point 25 is well made.
Maybe Sunak was hoping to get away with it.
March 18, 2023
How do you allow free trade with Northern Ireland if there can be (Tony Blair’s fix) no patrolled border between Northern Ireland and Eire? If both sides were friends, that would be easy, but there is a LOT of history there. In a way, it is best to let sleeping dogs lie. It is a bit like trying to defuse a 500lb bomb.
March 18, 2023
The correct solution was identified on here days after Irish politicians started threatening that their government was prepared to block any special trade deal:
https://johnredwoodsdiary.com/2021/10/19/the-state-of-the-union-2/#comment-1269044
âMy possible solution was for the UK government to give an undertaking to the EU that it did not intend to allow its territory to become a source of unsuitable goods placed upon the EU Single Market, and so it would introduce a system to licence UK exporters to the EU which would force them to meet EU requirements or suffer penalties under UK law, with the possibility of EU officials being invited to assist in investigations.”
I note that the European Scrutiny Committee is not asking about any such alternative arrangements.
Reply The ERG put an alternative to Mrs May and her successors along those lines called the mutual enforcement model. The UK would legislate to promise no non complaint exports, leaving the UK free to govern NI without EU laws and courts.
March 18, 2023
As we know the problem with “mutual enforcement” was the lack of mutuality:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-49488844
“Brexit: Backstop plan by Sir Jonathan Faull dismissed by EU”
combined with a misguided craving for a special trade deal with the EU when we should have told them that we planned to default to the existing WTO treaties.
Lord Lilley had the answer to that a year ago, as mentioned here:
http://johnredwoodsdiary.com/2023/02/14/end-the-tax-and-subsidy-machine/#comment-1372697
“This approach is commonly called âmutual enforcementâ, since it is usually assumed that it would require reciprocity. In principle, reciprocity would be desirable. That is, the EU/Republic of Ireland should likewise make it an offense to export goods into Northern Ireland which do not comply with UK regulations and standards. But reciprocity is not essential. In the event of the UK taking action under Article 16 or resiling from the Protocol, it would be sensible, and show good will, unilaterally to make it an offense to export non-compliant goods to the Republic/EU even if the EU chose not to reciprocate. That would reduce any excuse for ârebalancing measuresâ.”
Reply Yes, Peter works with the ERG
March 18, 2023
@Anselm – how can you have different tax rates, VAT, Corporation Tax, income tax, goods passing back and forth and so on without a hard border? Oh, yes that’s right it has been happening for since 1998 and working well.
March 18, 2023
When I lived in County Meath there was a regular shopping run to Northern Ireland for things like turkeys for all the family at Christmas, because they were so much less expensive. Obviously the trip was conducted on the myriad of backroads, probably still is and always will be.
March 18, 2023
On and on it goes. Your brexit will never be done. Dealings with the European Union will, because of the DUP and ERG, become ever more Byzantine, and occupy ever more of your minds.
March 18, 2023
Never is beyond your predictions could ever reach.
March 18, 2023
The operative word is your brexit.
March 19, 2023
It was a nationwide vote NLH
March 19, 2023
No, the operative words are your refusal to implement Brexit
March 18, 2023
The clueless shower in Westminster don’t need dealings with the EU to make their work Byzantine. They can do that all by themselves in everything they touch.
March 18, 2023
NLH – The corrupt EU is in a state of panic trying to prevent the inevitable TOTAL collapse of its globalist agenda.
March 18, 2023
Leaving the EU was innocent.
The Windsor Frame-up presents the presumption of our guilt in seeking freedom!
The onus is on the prosecutor to prove why we need to buy and wear their ball and chain.
It is not for us to justify why we donât want them and their nuisance.
March 18, 2023
@Bloke – All EU Laws, Rules and Regulations presume guilt. Nothing is legal unless it has been approved, even the ECHR is based first on removing âallâ rights so it can then award them like a medals.
Good Democratic Government is based on everything being legal with rights only being removed if circumstances and situation demand it. Then through the same Democratic process they can be amended or repealed. That’s the way for the most part it was in the UK for hundreds of years, until the unelected, unaccountable bureaucrats in the EU were given control of our laws, rules and regulations.
Laws created by those that are not elected can never have a place in a Democracy, thats Dictatorship
March 18, 2023
The EU briefing paper is correct.
No significant changes to the protocol have been made and the ECJ remains the final arbiter on matters in Northern Ireland
The Windsor Agreement is an appeasement document much like Chamberlain peace in our time
March 18, 2023
In politics it is called ‘compromise’.
Not a word present in the lexicon of a successful Business.
March 18, 2023
A nation cannot compromise on its territory. Either it owns and governs it or it doesn’t.
March 18, 2023
Please bare with me whilst I tell you of my Kafkeasque dealings with the DWP.
After caring for our mother in law, in January we decided she needed to go into a care home.
Later that week I informed the DWP and applied for higher rate attendance allowance.
This was granted last week.
On drawing her pension, it was ,ÂŁ69 less. I rang the DWP and questioned it.
The operative said there had been a change of circumstances so they had no details and stepped pension credit.
I explained that I’d filled the appropriate forms and spoken to DWP directly.
She said we’ve sent some forms to complete to the care home.
I said how co.e if you have no information you had the care home address
She said the address was changed from January 3rd.
She said she will send sa.e forms to my address.
You couldn’t make it up.
March 18, 2023
fairly normal experience I’d have thought?
March 18, 2023
Yes, the Windsor Framework is a complete CAPITULATION to the EU. It is a surrender. And it is COMPLETELY UNACCEPTABLE. For the sake of brevity here are just my three MAIN concerns (not all of them):
1. The Green Lane is NOT green, but dark pink. It is NOT a document-free lane, as it should be. Trucks should be able to just turn up and go across WITHOUT ANY PAPERS of ANY kind – just as they do when they cross from England into Wales, for instance. Sunak said: âWe have removed any sense of a border in the Irish Sea.â This outrageous LIE needs to be challenged and can be disproved very easily: If these red and green lanes are not a border then why not have them between the North and South of Ireland?
2. The new labelling requirements are unacceptable. The chairman of Marks & Spencer, for instance, warned that different labelling requirements would create âoverbearing and prohibitive costsâ and the separate production runs necessary would particularly harm small suppliers. The government refuses to accept that because the Protocol restricts movement from GB to NI, it is NOT just a Northern Ireland issue: it affects British companies and British workers on the mainland even more!Northern Ireland is part of the UK and the labels used should be EXACTLY THE SAME throughout our one country.
3. Although some EU laws have been scrapped in Northern Ireland, MOST REMAIN. It is not acceptable for part of OUR country to be ruled by FOREIGN laws. Sunak said he can “understand” the view that EU laws should have no place in Northern Ireland but insisted that there was “some role for EU law” as long as the people there wanted special access to the single market. But Ireland wants special, unfettered access, without any border, to the North â part of the UK market â so why isn’t there ‘some place for UK law’ in the EU?
This goes to the core of the problem: if it is accepted that the EU should have powers over Northern Ireland because this is the part of the UK that borders with the EU, then surely, if you believe in EQUALITY, the UK should have powers over the Republic of Ireland because this is the part of the EU that borders with the UK. That is not the case here, so this is an UNEQUAL agreement. And that is why it is UNACCEPTABLE.
March 19, 2023
The Usurper has been misleading Parliament. Never mind his FPN.
March 18, 2023
Well they’ve got away with it since 2016
March 18, 2023
Oh dear – it seems the government LIED yet again. It wil NOT be possible for British citizens, living in the UK, to buy plants from other British citizens, living in the UK:
https://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/opinion/columnists/sam-mcbride/buying-gb-plants-online-seems-set-to-be-banned-under-eu-deal-and-ni-secretary-misled-public/1749496656.html
The UK is the ONLY country in the WORLD with such a restriction.
How could any unionist vote for the Winsdor Framework? They can’t.
March 19, 2023
Only by being misled by the Usurper.
March 18, 2023
Sunak has gone full Eurocrat by treating Parliament with contempt. Not only his failure to attend the Scrutiny Committee but also, I understand, he now intends that there will not be a vote in Parliament on the whole Sunak Framework, only on parts of it. This extends the EU’s favourite trick of spreading its regulation over numerous pieces in order to make it harder to grasp the full picture and full impact.
March 18, 2023
The current PM presents the optimism of Mr Micawber.
Who the Dickens wants to gamble their future on that?
March 18, 2023
+1
March 18, 2023
All bar one MP walking out on Andrew Bridgen speech yesterday when he was quoting the Governmentâs own facts on vaccine injuries and deaths, is (in technical risk parlance) an extreme event.
By that I mean he is correct in that that sixty thousand people have died as a result of the vaccine side effects and that this number matches is cross validated by the excess death figures. By extreme I mean the disconnect between the large numbers of deaths and the complete lack of interest by politicians will be existential.
Andrew Bridgenâs figures were checked by actuaries and professors of statistics. He is also in saying for over 60s with comorbidities the risk of being killed or serious injured by the vax is the same as the risk of being killed or serious injured by covid-19. He is correct in saying based on the Governments published figures for the younger age groups the vaccine causes between hundreds or thousands of times more harm, serious harm or deaths than benefit.
The next question is what will be the consequences of this statement. The first consequence is the Government has stopped publishing data on the yellow cards and excess deaths causes. This is a strong sign of guilt and shows a coverup is underway.
The judiciary has a legally onerous responsibility to investigate deaths. This responsibility will eventually end up in front of a senior judge who will be obliged to set up an investigation that concludes with civil and criminal judgements. A judge will have to omit politicians from this investigation as their actions show all politicians (literally all bar 2) have been complicit in a cover up.
The blow back on politicians not being in the chamber to show grave concern at the Governmentâs published figures of deaths from the vaccine will undermine the whole political modus operandi and not just Matt Hancockâs psychological excesses.
Legal obligations on the judiciary means the issue of deaths from covid-19 vaccines will have implications for politicians, political parties and democracy for decades.
March 18, 2023
Oh my goodness!
I knew heâd made a speech but I didnât know about the walkout.
Bunch of cowards..if you donât hear it/read it you donât know it?
And someone went to all that trouble so we could read âLady Chatterlyâs Loverâ!
March 18, 2023
They’re woke cowards
March 18, 2023
+1
March 18, 2023
@Cuibono; The fight for the legal right to publish âLady Chatterlyâs Loverâ did not change the Libel and Slander laws one iota…
March 18, 2023
And?
March 19, 2023
@Cuibono; My point being, MP’s have certain parliamentary privileges, they can say things on the floor of the house that if repeated outside of parliament or by mere plebs would/could see the person in up court. Assertions made in parliament are not necessarily Facts.
March 18, 2023
Javelin
In view of Mr Bridges meticulous reference to official data and facts, was it not extraordinary that in the reply, the Minister said the opposite, seemingly denying the truth of official figures. Which is true, we have a right to know, otherwise the basis of all information from government comes into question.
Further the minister mentioned other sources of information without naming them. We need to know where it comes from and why this varies from official government sources.
March 18, 2023
Well said Javelin. It was shocking to see the empty chamber with only Sir Christopher Chope listening to Andrew Bridgenâs detailed speech on the vaccines and the totally dismissive response he received.
March 18, 2023
And YT has taken down his speech because it goes against their guidelines! So, an elected MP giving a speech in our parliament is deemed unfit for us to even view. The censorship of the media goes too far. We should be demanding an investigation into excess deaths and vaccine harm. Also, the fact that the chamber was nearly empty shows the level of concern our politicians donât have and how this scandal is being buried.
If the ONS evidence is even being banned on this site what hope do we have?
March 18, 2023
Have you seen the footage of Andrew Mitchell going around telling MPs to leave immediately before Andrew Bridgen made his speech? And they did.. History will not look kindly upon them.
March 18, 2023
Is that the same Champion of Foreign Aid First Andrew Mitchell, over the english plebs Andrew Mitchell
March 18, 2023
Mitchell doesn’t want to hear the truth, and doesn’t want his colleagues to hear it either. For some reason the man still thinks he’s chief whip.
March 18, 2023
A Professor of statistics – do you mean Ferguson? – chuckle…..
March 18, 2023
âActuaries and professors of statisticsâ? Who? You should be able to give us the full list, shouldnât you?
Dr Aseem Malhotra, joined by Drs Ryan Cole, Tess Lawrie, publishing in a South African review (Journal of Insulin Resistance (!)) and advertised by the pseudoscientific World Council for Health.
Methodology: âa narrative review of the evidenceâ (sic).
Great, I have 100% confidence âŚ
March 18, 2023
I wish the Minister had walked out rather than recite the ridiculous response. It was shaming!
March 19, 2023
The walkout is a an indefensible disgrace and Sir John should deplore it explicitly.
March 18, 2023
One has to ask the question.
” Is he really up to the task in hand”?
He came back crowing like cock of the north when the reality is he has made some very elementary mistakes in showing he does not fully understand what was expected and required.
Even some MEPs are now openly highlighting the vindictiveness of the EU leaders because we dared to leave..
Yet another PM practised in the art of urine, neck and rain policies.
March 18, 2023
Let’s be a little charitable. Mr Sunak is a very good competent Prime Minister who seems to have cleared up the mess left by Liz Truss. The pound is now as strong as it was just before covid. He has made a pact with Australia and US over china. He works quietly away. And he has the right attitude.
March 18, 2023
I think being generous we can say he’s a “fixer”. A faster and more intelligent version of Major, but nevertheless if he needs to side step the democratic mandate, he will. That started in his failure to be democratically elected as leader an it hasn’t stopped since.
March 18, 2023
Heâs a fixer because he capitulates at every turn! Heâs fixing us up.
March 18, 2023
@SJS; Sunak was elected leader under the same party rules as Truss & Johnson.
March 18, 2023
Yes Jerry, and that is why there is absolutely no point being a member.
March 18, 2023
@jerry,. Sorry you are wrong, Truss and Johnson were elected by the Conservative Party. Sunak didn’t seek Conservative Party support, they(the Conservative Party) were denied the opportunity to participate in the election of their leader and PM by democratic process.
March 19, 2023
@Ian B; Non so blind as those who choose not to see… You and others did not bleat like lost lambs when your favored candidate(s) won, despite the fact that many party members never had a chance to vote for their preferred candidate due to those rules, how do we know there wasn’t a majority for (say) Mr Hunt among the ordinary membership – they were never asked directly!
March 19, 2023
Oops, make my example Mr Gove! But the thrust of my argument remains.
March 18, 2023
The Aukus deal will provide manufacturing jobs here and abroad for many, but these submarines will not be operational until the 40s. I do recommend you read the article by Eyck Freymann in this weekâs Spectator magazine. Most enlightening.
March 18, 2023
We’d make more UK jobs by making our own military uniforms in the UK, increasing the size of army, building offshore patrol boats and our own aircraft ….and a lots sooner than building a single sub
March 18, 2023
Yes but unfortunately the Truss interlude took us down to -30% in the polls, down from -10% where Boris Johnson has left us. So far weâve only clawed back to -20%, which isnât good enough to have much of a chance at the election.
March 18, 2023
Truss replaced Boris, people didnât want Boris replacing hence 20% still down, even though heâs capitulated to the EU and the Unions and the papers and BoE, ONS are on his globalist fixer side (agreeing to stick with a 30% increase in corp tax and stay in line helps).
March 18, 2023
Miss Truss did not leave the mess: he did, with his two years of money printing, leading to double digit inflation. And alongside ultra low interest rates; also his record high deficit. Sir John forecast inflation and gas prices would come down and so they are, but tthe Usurper is brazen to be taking the credit for that. Now he is bankrupting the country with overtaxation. Is it to spite Miss Truss or to get us to beg to go back in the EU? The man transparently has no character.
March 18, 2023
I beg to differ ANSELM, it does not need competence to capitulate to every thing!
March 18, 2023
@MFD +1
March 18, 2023
A competent Prime Minister would a) understand the legal implications of and b) be wary about signing binding treaties he does not understand.
A good PM would read and take seriously the interpretation the EU places on the agreement.
A wise and mature PM would not connive with the EU to shackle this country’s economic future to a moribund, failed would-be superstate, just to keep the flow of watery veg going from the Low Countries, and to placate backbenchers who want unimpeded access to their villas in the Med.
This PM (Rose is right, he is a Usurper, and more Perkin Warbeck than Henry IV) is like a little boy who gets into his father’s car, sounds the horn and wrenches the steering wheel around a bit, and is convinced he is ‘driving daddy’s car’.
March 18, 2023
I’m beginning to think Mr. Sunak has a very thin skin; loves all the attention when he’s telling us how brilliant his actions are, but can’t handle serious questions or challenges. Sign of inexperience perhaps.
How is it we are cursed with PMs with inadequate experience or strength of character. As for Max Headroom, what a disaster…
March 18, 2023
we are cursed because of the paucity of candidate MPs to pick from.
March 18, 2023
And that is because our media make public life unattractive.
March 18, 2023
or perhaps the PM/Cabinet make sincere MPs into sheep?
No place for opinions, we are fortunate to hear Sir John’s – you don’t have to always agree.
March 18, 2023
Mickey, we are fortunate indeed.
March 18, 2023
It is being reported that the Irish politicians are costing with the EU it what amounts to the possible start of a trade war if the UK step out of line of the new agreement.
Why do our leaders not see through all this facade and read all the small print before totally committing the country to another form of control from the EU?
You never deal with people who when you shake hands you count your fingers afterwards. Walk away and stay away. Why kèep trying to deal with people who only want it one way, their way?
March 18, 2023
costing should have read cosying.
March 18, 2023
If the Irish want a trade war with the UK they would be seriously damaged if our weak politicians actually stood firmly on the UKs side! Which they donât.
March 18, 2023
This is another unacceptable âagreementâ. If the Government push it through the people will take the matter into their own hands as they have done before.
Pushing your way through the parliamentary process does not win hearts and minds, as Macron is discovering.
It will be far to dangerous for Biden to visit should this âagreementâ be enacted.
Be careful about thwarting the British people too. We are losing our sense of humour.
March 18, 2023
Perhaps Sunak intends following the example of his pal Macron and ignore the views of Parliament.
March 18, 2023
reaching out for a 3-line whip again?
March 18, 2023
He won’t need it though – he has Labour’s tame Nibelungen hordes to vote it through. They can’t believe how easy he has made it for them to 1) take over power, as Sunak has alienated the majority of Conservative voters outside the Home Counties, and b) use the Quisling Framework to sign up to the EU single market and customs union.
They have no shame.
March 18, 2023
It seems that half the govt.âs remit is to keep us in the dark about what they are doing.
Local councils are exactly the same.
âStand and deliver. Hereâs your blindfold!â
March 18, 2023
I do believe our PM is a WEF devotee and these implications are a move to autocracy as evident within this posting. Lord Sumption made some extremely relevant remarks in his recent communication, and the reference to bone headed MPs is so apt. But Sir John keep on testing the PM and the cabinet.
March 18, 2023
It seems that the long-predicted total collapse of the global fiat money system has begun. Last week the Swiss taxpayer bailed out Credit Suisse bank to the tune of $45billion and another Swiss banking giant UBS is in discussions to take over all or parts of Credit Suisse, with the boards of Switzerland’s two biggest lenders set to meet separately over the weekend.
Predictably, gold bullion has retained it’s safe haven status and a kilo of the yellow metal costs ÂŁ52,549 this weekend. A year ago it was ~ÂŁ42,000. Pip pip!
March 18, 2023
Gordon Brown sold ours at the bottom.
March 18, 2023
Which is more or less where I bought mine, and jolly lucky too.
March 18, 2023
@rose. +1 along with everything else that we need today
March 18, 2023
Afraid it all still looks like a complicated mess, if Northern Ireland is part of the UK, either the UK is in overall charge or it isn’t, it’s that simple really.
March 18, 2023
Agreed – That should be the bottom line Alan
March 18, 2023
The EU’s own map shows Northern Ireland as part of the UK and not part of the EU:
https://european-union.europa.eu/sites/default/files/styles/embed_large/public/2021-09/european-map_en_0.jpg?itok=-nTX1Hyb
March 18, 2023
Nice to see the Dutch people are fighting back against the progressive parasites and globalist leeches who use climate and identity as weapons of Neo-Marxist assault on normality, land and culture. This is what we need in the UK
And by the way. Northern Ireland is lost. the Clintons of this world will have decided that with their obsessions with colonialism and racism that they now see under every issue
March 18, 2023
Give the NI a referendum, let them decide. It’s been more than a generation since the last one.
March 18, 2023
Maybe we should give that referendum to all the four nations of the union ….give them all a chance
March 18, 2023
yes let us in England have the right to leave the Union.
March 18, 2023
The will ignore you. Forcing it through using a Statutory Instrument. They are not interested in scrutiny because they know it wonât stack up.
Reply The problem is all the Opposition parties save the DUP supported a sell out when they announced they would support any deal.
March 18, 2023
Under instructions from Sue Gray who was present at the deliberations?
March 18, 2023
Sir John your questions and concerns are those of the ERG group who are dragging their heels like they have been forevermore all in step with the DUP but too bad for both – as far as I know the Windsor Framework has been agreed by government and has taken care of everyyhing outstanding so nothing else for parliament or the ERG to do now except pass it of not pass it – because it is not going to be opened up again – and that’s the reality – time to move on.
reply You clearly do not understand it. It is not finalised and will depend on Joint Committee decisions still to be made.
March 18, 2023
Joint committee decisions can be made but they are not going to fundamentally change anything.
The framework is there and will be passed by the House. Only question now is whether DUP will go back into government and my feeling is they won’t – Donaldson will most likely quit and then there will be direct rule from London for a few years until the next GE at least. But otherwise life for the ordinary man will go on as usual with trade with the EU and GB as per the Framework.. meanwhile the change in demographics in NI marches on.
March 18, 2023
Why don’t we simply remove Northern Ireland from the Single Market and set up arrangements for Green Channel goods that are identical to those in the rest of the UK – no matter how much the Republic of Ireland, the EU and the USA’s Irish American President may object? We could then carry on talking to the Republic and the EU as to the best way of handling Red Channel goods.
March 18, 2023
Something like half of the goods crossing the land border into the Irish Republic have not come in from outside of Northern Ireland through any coloured channel, they have been produced within the province and so they will not have been subjected to any checks at a point of entry.
The DUP is now very belatedly posing this question:
https://mydup.com/news/sir-jeffrey-gives-windsor-framework-assessment-during-us-visit
“For example, for those Northern Ireland businesses that do not trade with the EU and only trade within the United Kingdom why should they be required to follow EU laws?”
And the EU’s answer to that question is that some of the goods produced by those Northern Ireland businesses could be carried across the open land border into the Irish Republic, and therefore all of the goods produced in the province must comply with EU requirements.
Of course the correct answer is to move from operating checks and controls on imports from Great Britain into Northern Ireland to imposing checks and controls on all the exports from Northern Ireland to the Irish Republic across the land border, a simple enough matter to arrange, but after two years of trying I still have not got the DUP and other Northern Ireland unionists to take that on board.
Reply The ERG and the DUP have both raised this issue from the outset.
March 18, 2023
Donât forget the massive fines they will impose on the UK if we try and break their rules and apply the break. Remember the multi-billion euro Chinese import fine that this government meekly paid when other EU countries were doing exactly the same? You are giving the EU a blank cheque if you let this legislation go through. Itâs just a way of tying the whole UK to EU control and itâs an utter disgrace.
March 18, 2023
Did this government pass the fine on to the illegal Chinese importer or did they get clean away? Who were the suppliers, it must have been someone of considerable size. Ali (whatâsit?)
March 18, 2023
As do you by implication, I believe that there are too many undefined areas that remaining undefined could have continuing negative implications for the sovereignty of NI and the UK as a whole. Nothing in dealings with the EU can be left to goodwill it would conflict with their intent to punish. It requires to be laid bare in the HoC.
March 18, 2023
The Stormont Brake will never be used to disapply any EU law which would otherwise apply to Northern Ireland.
For me this idea represents a reversion of the Tory party to its bad old ways of pretending to oppose the EU federal project while quietly going along with it. It is reminiscent of the various EU ploys of “yellow card” and “red card” and “emergency brake” used to deceive the population.
Yesterday I emailed Tory MPs as follows:
“Demand a free vote on the Stormont Brake”
“With Keir Starmer having pledged Labour support the government is sure to win Wednesday’s vote whether it is a whipped vote or a free vote.
But only a free vote would permit each Tory MP to put on record their honest feelings about this defective, and sadly deceitful, proposal.
Does anybody really believe that any future UK government of any party would ever risk a trade war with the EU by applying this “brake”?
It would be like pressing the nuclear button, because as explained in this Irish Times editorial of November 11 2021:
https://www.irishtimes.com/opinion/editorial/the-irish-times-view-on-the-northern-ireland-protocol-the-price-of-repudiation-1.4725007
“… Frost yesterday again brandished the nuclear threat: the use of the protocolâs article 16 to repudiate its provisions.”
“… allowing the EU unilaterally then to take proportionate ârebalancing measuresâ in retaliation”
And:
“Brussels has been considering such sanctions, but there are fears that punitive actions confined to the protocolâs remit, notably NI-UK trade … ”
would not be enough to bring the British to their knees.
So:
“The alternative sanctions approach … is for the EU to abandon all or part of the Trade and Co-operation Agreement (TCA)”
Meaning:
“Instead of facing Northern Ireland-specific measures, the UK could face tariffs and possible quotas on all its exports to the EU.”
Norwegians know about this; they mistakenly thought they could sign up to accept EU laws, while reserving the right to reject them.
As Martin Howe QC explained in 2018:
https://brexitcentral.com/dont-fooled-efta-eea-membership-not-let-us-take-back-control/
“If we tried to change our rules or refused to adopt new rules, we would be bullied into submission by EU threats of loss of market access.
Thatâs what happened when Norway refused to follow the EUâs Postal Directive. They soon fell into line.”
Apparently there is now no way that Northern Ireland can be saved from the same fate under the Windsor Framework, but the truth should be told and Tory MPs should be free to tell it.”
:
March 18, 2023
Indeed
March 18, 2023
@Denis Cooper +1
You also sum up why the Chancellors Budget set out to punish, no grow the UK. The ‘Blob’ has dictated the return to EU Control of the Country
March 18, 2023
Unless we get a definitive answer to each of these questions within a few days (no more than 5) it will confirm to me, my initial reaction, that the Windsor Framework is all smoke and mirrors.
I find it hard to believe that the PM has any intention of implementing the benefits of Brexit as everything he has either said or done has been no more than tinkering around the edges.
March 18, 2023
The Windsor Framework will become a farce a bit like the Rwanda deal, if you don’t send every single women, man and child it will never work …just another farce
March 18, 2023
Proving that this new agreement was all about theatre and has achieved very little.
When are we going to get a real deal?
March 18, 2023
Do the European Scrutiny Committee publicly consider how Northern Ireland leaving the UK would interact with the Windsor Framework or is the topic verboten?âSimilarly, what unilateral means of leaving the framework do both parties have.
March 18, 2023
Things have gone quiet over the proposed NI/EU deal and that can only mean one thing – we do not have an arrangement that overcomes the stalemate . Biden sits in the wings on this and Sunak does not want to do anything to cause the USA to turn its back any more against us . The questions that Sir John raises ought to spark a significant reply , but this won’t happen because Sunak is left footed ; The EU holds the initiative .
March 18, 2023
Mr Redwood, why weren’t you in the chamber to listen to Andrew Bridgen’s speech on the 17th March?
It was instructive to watch, as the Rt honorable ( one of the few in the Chamber deserving of the title ) member stood up to speak, the few MPs that were present, scuttle out of the Chamber, resembling, as they did, the creepy crawlies that dash for cover, when you lift a stone.
Reply I was in the constituency dealing with issues. I have read Mr Bridgenâs views.
March 18, 2023
reply to reply – much more important to deal with real facts and issues than falsehoods. Well done.
March 19, 2023
Sir John, you are sitting on the fence. You should actively be condemning the walkout for the disgrace that it is.
March 19, 2023
JR: ” I have read Mr Bridgenâs views.”
And …. ?
It was obvious by his response, that the ‘cardboard cutout’ on the front bench, hadn’t. He just retailed the official talking points in a mindless automatic manner.
Have none of your constituents contacted you with concerns about the side effects of the vaccines ? None ?
Reply Very little interest in vaccine issues in my email box from constituents. Most wanted the vaccine and are pleased to have had it. I have never expressed a view on the vaccines and did not make positive or negative statements about them at the time.
March 18, 2023
All in the spirit of cooperation. The EU passed a new Law that specifically relates to the punishment of the UK if it doesnât toe the line on their dictates. Or this Government will do as its told on what happens inside the UK or be inflicted with harsh retribution.
So the PM has a good deal – for who? The other traitors to democracy are about to be exposed next week.
March 18, 2023
Good, let them all put their names to it.
March 19, 2023
Which new EU law âthat specifically relates to the punishment of the UK if it does not toe the line of their dictatesâ? What is its name? When was it published?
The only thing I can find is the Windsor Framework of 27/02/2023.
Or are you referring to the Express 17/03/2023 âFirst shot fired in trade war between EU and UK as Irish MEPs cosy up to Brusselsâ essentially reporting the bla bla baah of a Reform Party ex-MEP 2:1 U.Manchester geography graduate?
March 18, 2023
The PM is uninterested in the detail, and certainly doesn’t care what his backbenchers think. He’s counted all the Opposition votes that will be supporting his measure – which will keep the UK either following every jot and tittle of EU law (virtually a prisoner of the EU) or force a widening fiscal gap with Northern Ireland that will unsettle the Province and cut it off from mainland Britain, starting a new civil war. Not much choice, eh?
The Stormont brake (=Art. 16 with its hands tied behind its back) will rely entirely on the government at Westminster agreeing to pull it, and risk the most brutal possible anti-UK sanctions by the EU. Do you see that happening under a) this government b) a post 2024 Labour government?
Me neither.
March 18, 2023
What happens if 150 back benchers and the DUP vote against it? And one or two Labour Brexiteers? It would look dreadful.
I fear a large chunk of them will have been lulled by the media into thinking the public want this shameful capitulation. Because the media have told them it is the opposite of what it is.
March 18, 2023
The media told us there wouldnât be salad in the UK for four weeks. A short time later they were yellow ticket items, stacked up getting over ripe.
March 18, 2023
@Denis Cooper:
Size matters. Whether you’re Norway, Britain, EU, RĂşssia, China, or USA, size matters.
March 18, 2023
Is that a threat, Peter?
March 18, 2023
@Rose: of course not a threat, just stating facts
March 19, 2023
Peter, it is a fact that tiny Holland played a large part in history. She may again if she were to leave the Evil Empire and free herelf of the destructive Net Zero..
March 19, 2023
@ rose:
Rose, one of the Brexit benefits is that anti-EU hate is now reasonably contained to within the UK. The other 27 countries i.e. the EU have moved on. Pro-EU polling (e.g. in the Eurobarometer) is higher then ever.
March 19, 2023
Yes, it is a threat; for the EU “might is right”, even though that is not openly stated in its founding treaties.
March 19, 2023
@ Denis: that sounds more like a BE slogan. E.g. in the Windsor Framework, the EU has made many strong compromises even surprising somw of the (minority) anti-protocol people. If “might is right” had been the EU slogan, why would it have bothered to compromise?
March 18, 2023
are you saying that any sense of fairness, justice – democracy can be easily ignored?
March 18, 2023
So the EU and USA and U.K. together are pretty big.
Funny that they are being beaten into a cocked hat by Russia in their proxy war. And not only on the battlefield for which they spent 8 years preparing and the USA alone pumped in USD 110 Billion (so far).
They canât match the Russian industrial complex either, and horror of horrors they have been beaten in the financial war and will lose the petro-dollar – itâs happening as we speak.
Moreover the new multi-polar world order so feared by the neo-cons has brought peace between Saudi and Iran, and now Turkey and Syria is in deep discussions to settle their differences.
Compare that with the wars the neo-cons managed to foist on the world over the recent past – worst of all being our anti-NAZI war-time allies, the Serbs!
But you carry on, you big bully. Self-delusion beyond repair!
March 19, 2023
@ Lynn Atkinson
19-3-23: Serbia and Kosovo agree to implement EU plan to normalize ties.
Bully, ok, but not the only bully. Few people will argue that the Russian invasion into Ukraine was excusable or caused by the West.
March 19, 2023
If Blair and Brown had not abused NATO to bomb the Serbs, maybe Russia would have gone on thinking NATO was a defensive force.
March 19, 2023
Sorry, and Clinton.
March 18, 2023
Priti Patel spoke of collusion over the Kangaroo Court. Well, it looks as if there has been yet more collusion in the timing of these two events.
March 18, 2023
It has been clear from the start that the whole thing is a typical EU inspired fudge, and it seems to me that Mr Sunak just hopes that if he does not bother to reply, any doubts about what he has agreed to will just float away. I hope you and the DUP will not allow that to happen.
March 18, 2023
Sir John
In some ways you are pointing out, is the UK the UK and is the UK a Democracy?
What is the safest route, 100% democracy, or a Colony being Dictated to by a higher power.
We must never forget the so-called Protocol was a concoction of the âBlobâ, seized on by their unelected mates in the EU to punish the UK for daring to want to be a Democracy. Something the Bureaucrats have suppressed in the UK for some 40 years.
The good old differentiator, between one system and another is that in a Democracy all laws, rules and regulations are created simply by those that represent those that elected them. The same process can then amend and repeal when things no longer fit. If the Government and Parliament is against this basic principle â we the people donât need them. Resign lets save some money!
It does pose another question is the EU Commission a âTrade Bodyâ or the Government of a Country called the EU. It is noted that we trade equally with NAFTA, BRICS and so on but none of those entities dictate how we must act by law in our own Country.
Are treaties between Countries or unelected, unaccountable dictating Bureaucrats?
March 18, 2023
Great to see you still trying to hold them to account Sir John.
What happens if the DUP still refuses to go back into government in NI, will they just carry on without them in spite of the GF Agreement?
March 18, 2023
Sinn Fein kept the Assembly down for three years over very much less. (They didn’t want to be associated with a British institution in the long run up to the Dublin elections, so they concocted an excuse over the Irish language.)
March 18, 2023
There’s probably no need for parliament to ask questions about was already agreed instead PM’s should do the same as Boris would – accept it and if necessary argue about it afterwards.
The important thing is the economy now and getting foreign investment. In any case the stormont ‘brake’ cannot be applied if there is no stormont assembly in place which looks very likely to be the case now from what I hear. So therefore no point in fretting anymore about what parliament of the DUP do or don’t do because with direct rule from London looming am sure everything will be managed ok – the framework will still be there for the next generation – with plenty of time to ask questions.
March 18, 2023
“Thereâs probably no need for parliament to ask questions about was already agreed instead PMâs should do the same as Boris would â accept it and if necessary argue about it afterwards.”
Boris was in a completely different situation, having inherited a terrible deal from Mrs May and a minority of minus 21. “That Parliament “chopped off his legs” by legislating to prevent him from coming away without a deal. The EU couldn’t believe their luck, but as soon as he had a majority he came to Parliament with legislation to undo the damage – which Parliament again sabotaged.
There is no need for the Usurper to accept anything which is against our interest as he has a majority and Parliament is not legislating against him. He should politely ask the EU to leave our country now as we voted to leave it seven years ago.
March 18, 2023
Dear Mr. Redwood,
Why has the government refused to answer your question about which EU laws will apply to Northern Ireland? Why has the Prime Minister not yet appeared before the European Scrutiny Committee? The Prime Minister said during his Windsor Framework statement that he would look forward to answering questions and that he stood ready to provide any clarifications.
Bill Cash said “No one had a real opportunity to study the voluminous and complex papers only published shortly before the Windsor statement. There is an inconsistency between the claims made by the EU Commission and by the British Government. The only way to resolve these inconsistencies and contradictions is for meaningful and accurate answers to the questions.”
There is still time but the Prime Minister’s ‘reluctance’ to answer questions about his deal may be because he lacks confidence in it. Or rather, because he may have difficulty in justifying that ‘it does what it says on the tin’ amid his fears that the true nature of the deal will be exposed.
The Prime Minister said during his acceptance speech that “this government will have integrity, professionalism and accountability at every level.” The way in which it has approached the Northern Ireland Protocol deal comes across as devious, scheming and untrustworthy.
March 18, 2023
And, Alan, the political and media world say it is Boris who has misled Parliament and must have a special Kangaroo Court set up to try him!
March 18, 2023
Appreciate your work on calling out the government on numerous issues. What can be done though to impede them in their relentless agenda. Are MPs prepared to take a stand against them, as there seems no other way, particularly with the Windsor Protocol
March 18, 2023
We shall know next week. Not really enough time for them to have studied the turgid texts. A gentleman would have given them time. So would a statesman who was confident of the rightness of his case.
March 19, 2023
Now the DUP verdict is in, I hope legions of backbenchers (including yourself, Sir John) will vote against this renewed attempt to throw NI – and the Union, and UK sovereignty – to the wolves. The more the PM relies on support from the Opposition, the more moral and political high ground you will have. Somebody needs to say loudly in Parliament: ‘This exploitative treaty cannot stand, and it *must and will* be repealed.’
The same PM-bullying will go on as during May’s repeated attempts to force through the same pseudo-Brexit which would have compelled the UK to follow single market legislation and be at the mercy of the ECJ. The same nannying threats that if you don’t vote for this, ‘there won’t be any Brexit at all’. Ignore it, and mark your protest.
Mr Shakespeare informs us that ‘one may smile, and smile, and be a villain’. How true.
March 19, 2023
Some truths
The ERG + DUP does not make up a majority in the House and that is the reality.
The treaty will not be repealed – the government does not have an appetite for it.
The DUP will not agree to the framework and so will not go back into stormont.
Donaldson will resign the DUP leadership and next leader will probably be Sammy Wilson.
The Framework agreement working will be applied to NI
Direct rule from London will follow and life will carry on the same.
Or am I missing something?
March 19, 2023
Yes, you are missing something. It will be direct rule from Brussels.
March 19, 2023
With regard to the Stormont Brake vote in Parliament on Wednesday and theERGâs concerns with the Framework, Iâve just found a useful link from a commentator on a DT article tonight. Very informative and helpful.
https:/www.briefingsforbritain.co.uk/the-windsor-framework-a-legal-and-democratic-sting/
It shows in clear, brief detail what the government is trying to do to get alignment with EU. It shows Rishiâs sleight of hand. He plans to use the Royal Prerogative.
March 21, 2023
Should the Windsor Framework pass in the HoC tomorrow you must cease using the word “Unionist” in your title. As consocialists you will be traiterously betraying the Union. Not only will I cease voting for you, I will look upon you with disgust.