Next week the EU is likely once again to try to force its wrong interpretation of the NI Protocol onto the U.K. negotiating team. Once more the EU will wish to ignore the mutual enforcement proposal from the U.K. which could free GB/ NI trade from EU restrictions whilst offering U.K. enforcement to prevent the on sale and delivery of goods into the EU from NI that are not compliant with EU rules.
The EU has violated the Protocol in three main ways.It has used it to divert trade from GB/NI to NI/EU. It has damaged the Good Friday Agreement with the First Minister vacating his office over the EU attitude to the Protocol. It has failed to maintain the support of the Unionist community for the EU approach because the EU does not respect NI’s place in the U.K.
The U.K. government should move now to offer NI some of the Brexit benefits. NI should be offered a large Freeport to promote investment and trade with a range of tax concessions and facilitation for growing businesses. Why not offer to match the Republic of Ireland’s low Corporation tax rate?The government should remove VAT from all green products and from domestic fuel, and legislate for this to apply in NI as well as the rest of the U.K.
February 17, 2022
All sensible stuff. The government certainly need to take a very robust approach on Northern Ireland. Why are they talking so long to act on this?
JR I am getting a message saying your site is unsafe as your certificate expired yesterday as below.
āThis server could not prove that it is johnredwoodsdiary.com; its security certificate expired in the last day. This may be caused by a misconfiguration or an attacker intercepting your connection.ā
February 17, 2022
LL I had the same message early this morning!
February 17, 2022
Me too.
February 17, 2022
Let’s remember, that more than 35,000 healthy British pigs have been slaughtered and buried on farms since September, with an estimated 200,000 languishing in a backlog.
That is not down to the NIP.
It is because of the lack of skilled abattoir staff – who have gone home because of your brexit – and because the producers now cannot easily sell their meat products in around thirty Mainland countries either.
February 17, 2022
You could offer to buy one.
Adoption is a lovely thing.
February 17, 2022
Good morning.
I think things need to get a lot worse before they start to get better. And I do not believe that this government, which does not seem patriotic at all, care for the Union. I mean, look at how they treat us English !
February 17, 2022
This government treats everyone badly, except the EU, illegal immigrants and the noisy minorities. I may be exaggerating mildly, but it appears they get everything they ask for and the English are just here to pay for it all.
February 17, 2022
What silly, baseless, victimhood-wallowing as ever.
February 17, 2022
+1 you forgot the NHS the English pay for that as well. Free prescriptions for everybody except the English. Including those in Glasgow quaffing methadone like I drink water. Free further education for everyone except the English.
February 17, 2022
Forgot to mention Free money in Wales as well for doing nothing. Ā£1600 I understand. More than my wife gets with her pension and working all week. Everything is free yippee. Oh bugger Iām English.
February 17, 2022
Totally agree Mark and Shirley. The only thing England gets out of this so called union is the bill. Governments of all colours, this Tory one there by the grace of England included, see us as nothing more than a cash cow and their blatant discrimination against us is a price worth paying. Why we English go on voting for the anti English Tory party is the biggest mystery of all.
February 20, 2022
There is know stand alone English Conservative Party, say’s it all when the likes of Gove gets rid of English Votes on English Law, Could you imadgine an English MP canceling Devolved Parliments. The Host talks the talk but does not walk the walk. Remember the English are not represented on the BIC.
February 17, 2022
you put it very mildly IMOH.
February 17, 2022
Well the English won’t be a problem at all to consider soon given the Conservatives immigration plans.
I have nothing but utter contempt for them.
February 17, 2022
I read that in Wales – āEvery 18-year-old leaving care will be offered Ā£1,600 a month for two years under a Welsh government basic income pilot.ā Should have people queuing up to put their kids in care!
So you tax everyone waste lots of it in collection and distribution costs to then give some others 24xĀ£1,600 monthly. Then this income is taxable on the recipient so they have to do a tax return, pay tax, more work for the tax office and it goes round the circles yet again. About as daft as heat out to help out or Gordon Brownās moronic Baby bonds that will pay for my second daugherās 18th birthday party in a couple of years time.
A good edition of More or Less on the BBC Radio 4 on childrenās vaccination figures and a few trivially simple sub GCSE/O level maths probability questions, sat by 101 MPs. Average score was less than 50% Only 50% even got the probability of getting two heads (in two tosses with a fair coin) right! 5 multiple choice answers to choose from too so even monkeys would have go 20% right! Is it any wonder we have a moronic energy policy, economic policy, fiscal policy, transport policy, defence policy, health care policy, lockdown policyā¦
These were 4 questions a sensible GCSE level math student should have got 100% right in under 60 seconds – even without multiple choice answers.
February 17, 2022
It is shocking how much money is thrown at people who fail, therefore we shouldn’t be surprised that failure is what we get.
February 17, 2022
Dear Sir John,
navigating to your site this morning I got the “security error, site unsafe” because of an expiry date being exceeded.
Just a “heads up” in case this is affecting other readers.
Best wishes
February 17, 2022
Yes, I got exactly the same message and had to confirm that I was willing to take the risk of opening this ‘unsafe’ site before it loaded. I can imagine that many people will be too nervous to do this. You need to get your webmaster to sort this out pronto.
Reply I did and he has
February 17, 2022
I’ve always thought some of the postings were unsafe, but learn not to take the bitter and twisted messages to heart. Skim read if you really must.
February 17, 2022
re-read the post
February 18, 2022
Sorry this was meant for another post
February 17, 2022
Dear Sir John, perhaps it would be helpful for further discussion if you could specify which articles of the NI protocol the EU has breached.
February 17, 2022
Whether or not the NI protocol has been breached, the protocol itself is a violation of the citizenship rights of Northern Ireland.
If there’s no Union, there’s no obligation for NI citizens to pay taxes and no obligation for them to suffer customs posts on their land.
February 17, 2022
I would say all of them. They are using a maximalist approach to customs check when only 3% of containers are inspected at Rotterdam.
Their objectives are to annex NI and keep the rest of the UK in the Brussels orbit.
The whole TCA needs scrapping and we should go to WTO rules.
February 17, 2022
Ian Wragg
100% correct
February 17, 2022
Only 3% of the trucks from GB are physically inspected at Dublin, as well.
https://www.rte.ie/news/business/2022/0106/1272179-revenues-2021-provisional-figures/
“It notes that 86% of freight vehicles arriving from Great Britain were “green route”‘ which means they travelled freely from port. 11% were subject to documentary checks and 3% were inspected or underwent a physical examination.”
But the same trucks from GB would be treated with much greater rigour if they were routed via Belfast, expect that at present only a small fraction of the EU mandated checks are being performed:
https://www.newsletter.co.uk/news/politics/poots-sea-border-situation-could-get-so-much-worse-90-of-checks-arent-even-happening-yet-3527250
āWhat people need to understand at the outset is, in terms of the protocol, probably weāre operating at less than 10% of the checks that would be applied with the full implementation of the protocolā
February 17, 2022
All good points. What are the government waiting for?
A good episode of More or Less on radio 4 this week – on some child vaccination figures and depressing news on the rather appalling mathematical abilities of the average MP. Why would one expect these people to give us sensible Covid, energy, economic, fiscal, monetary, transport, defence, employment, climateā¦ polices when most cannot even do very basic GCSE maths probability questions? Ones that anyone sensible should get 100% on in a few seconds.
February 17, 2022
It would appear Bunter only gets up on his hind legs to go to work when his position is under serious threat, this should be noted and appropriate arrangements made so that this becomes his normal sitution…
What a way to run a country, surely we have better people somewhere?
February 17, 2022
Your last comment might get a lot of readers scratching heads for most of the day.
February 17, 2022
No chance. I am getting fed up with this huffing and puffing.
And in related news, Penny Mordaunt , shamelessly plugging her post Brexit leadership potential tells an American audience that we chose to leave an organisation imposing its regulatory approach on the rest of the world.
She didnāt say that she was part of a Cabinet doing nothing to break away from said regulatory straitjacket.
Taking us for fools Ms M? Might work for your colleagues, not for me.
February 17, 2022
If it’s so powerful it is able to impose its regulatory approach on the rest of the world – and it is! – it doesn’t seem like a smart move to leave it. We’ll now have to follow its rules with no say. As is happening
February 17, 2022
It’s able to do so because sensible countries recognised that they’re damned good rules e.g. on product specification, food and medicine safety, provenance verification etc.
February 17, 2022
This whole issue is not one for customs checks it is up to trading standards teams on both sides of the border.
Just let trade flow and make regular checks on merchandise in shops and markets. The dominance of Ebay, Amazon, Etsy and other online marketplaces has changed trading across borders and both the UK and EU need to acknowledge this.
February 17, 2022
FYI Sir John (and not for publishing) my (edge) browser is giving off multiple warnings about your site not being secure. Your developer should check.
February 17, 2022
The security certificate has expired and needs renewing
February 17, 2022
Sir John
There seems to be an issue with your website and its ‘security certificate’
February 17, 2022
Brexit benefits?
Ask the BCC members about those.
Nearly three quarters say Brexit has been bad for business and hampered growth. The majority say their costs and bureaucracy have gone up and they’ve been put at a competitive disadvantage by this Conservative government’s Brexit deal and EU customers have been put off buying from the UK.
Just 1 in 8 say it’s been positive for them.
February 17, 2022
Peter Parsons :
The trading difficulties you describe are purely down to the EU punishing us for leaving.
But I wouldnāt swap these difficulties for retaining the ability to elect and remove those who make our laws and policies.
I think the way forward is to go to WTO rules where there is more protection against such unfair treatment.
February 17, 2022
The EU is not punishing the UK, such barriers and difficulties are the entirely predictable consequence of negotiating the first trade deal in history which was all about creating barriers to trade which were not there before.
February 18, 2022
Peter Parsons :
Of course there were barrirs to trade when we were members of the EU as evidenced by our Ā£100bn PER YEAR trading deficit with the EU.
Our civil service were quite happy for this to continue.
February 17, 2022
The BCC are not the people of this country, who voted to regain lost sovereignty.
February 17, 2022
Let’s not get carried away here Dave: fewer than 2 in every 5 people voted for Leave.
Source: Wikipedia “With the national turnout of 72% being the highest for a UK-wide referendum, this roughly calculates to 38% of the entire UK population wanting to leave the European Union and roughly 35% wanting to remain in the European Union.”
February 18, 2022
Seventeen million out of sixty-eight million is not 35%.
It’s about 25%.
They still won the referendum, but about two million of them have since disappeared.
February 18, 2022
a very high turnout and a clear winner — I think we knew that.
February 17, 2022
We’ve been through this kind of thing before, and it gets increasingly tedious.
https://www.britishchambers.org.uk/news/2022/02/bcc-research-finds-little-love-for-eu-trade-deal
“BCC RESEARCH FINDS LITTLE LOVE FOR EU TRADE DEAL”
Well, that’s not a surprise because the purpose of the deal was only to mitigate the problems which would have resulted from leaving the EU on WTO terms without any special trade deal, and it is not a very effective deal even for that purpose. Something covered up by Boris Johnson but explained by the EU Commission:
https://johnredwoodsdiary.com/2022/02/13/getting-rid-of-the-budget-deficit/#comment-1299433
“71% of exporters say EU trade deal is not enabling them to grow or increase sales”
Not 71% of all businesses in the UK, but 71% of the minority who export, and note that it does not even say “exporters to the WU”, so we do not know from that whether it is 71% of just the 6% who export to the EU or 71% of a larger number who export to anywhere in the world. But supposing that it the former, which would be most reasonable, that would be the opinion of about 4% of all businesses in the UK.
https://johnredwoodsdiary.com/2022/01/31/the-mantle-of-margaret-thatcher/#comment-1296485
“Can I even be bothered? Well, I suppose I have to say something, yet again, the same old stuff.
Are you aware that about 88% of our economy has nothing to do with exports to the EU?
If not, why not, when it has been repeatedly explained on this blog, for example here … “
February 17, 2022
This only applies to those trading with the EU. The majority of our trade is internal and our biggest export market is the the USA which, the last time I looked, was NOT in the EU.
February 17, 2022
No, our biggest export market BY FAR is the EU, it takes 46% of all our exports. Brexit puts up big blockages to this trade with no compensating benefits, which is why Brexit is going so badly
February 17, 2022
About 12% of our economy comprises exports to the EU, that leaves 88% which does not.
February 18, 2022
So why do you shriek about a mere 0.7% gdp going on aid?
February 18, 2022
I suggest you look into what is known as the, ‘Rotterdam Effect’, where all our goods that pass through Rotterdam and onto other countries is classed as going to the EU.
February 18, 2022
The size of that effect is known and it is small.
February 17, 2022
Indeed. The EUās hostile behaviour in NI must be countered. The protocol, if interpreted with flexibility by both sides, would be a reasonable fudge – as was anticipated. But With the EU wanting to use it to weaponise the border so as to try to demonstrate there is a cost to Brexit is a hostile act which requires a response in kind.
February 17, 2022
Never mind that the Brexit NI deal is a shambles – HMG still hasn’t understood the implications of its policies on energy:
https://www.politicshome.com/news/article/energy-crisis-uk-chemcals-industry-fear-factories-closing?mc_cid=29c1810ec5&mc_eid=35b59dbe0a
When are we going to see true leadership on both issues?
February 17, 2022
Perhaps you should campaign to rejoin the EU Mr Redwood? EU membership removes the need for customs borders between countries – so I would imagine it would make short work of the internal border your party negotiated, which you all stood for election on and which you then all voted for in Parliament.
February 17, 2022
Well, he’d have to do that without the help of Keir Starmer, who has at last seen sense:
https://johnredwoodsdiary.com/2022/02/16/__trashed/#comment-1300112
Perhaps you should follow suit.
February 17, 2022
Presumably if VAT was removed as you suggest, the South would have to impose a customs duty equivalent to the tax to avoid people from the South buying in the North – instead of locally. Sounds like a recipe for smuggling.
February 17, 2022
How long do you think the customs booths would last?
February 17, 2022
Smuggling from the North to the South would be a very good thing as it would boost sales in NI and therefore benefit local businesses.
February 17, 2022
Small Scale ‘smuggling’ has been going on between North and South ever since Ireland was partioned – not least in arms during the troubles. But anyone with any sense who lives near the border will shop for goods wherever they are cheaper – motor fuel in particular. This is no different than for HGVs with long distance fuel tanks filling up in Calais and driving to Scotland and back without refilling using our free motorway network.
February 17, 2022
Mike Wilson
So what?
Itās not the UKās duty to look after the financial interests of the EU.
Is the excise duty on alcohol the same rate for the North and the South of Ireland?
If not, why canāt VAT also vary between the North and the South?
Why is it perfectly OK for large multinational companies to take advantage of Irelandās very low corporation tax rates and save a fortune not paying the UK Treasury but not for ordinary people to take a small advantage of a VAT difference between two countries on a few items?
February 17, 2022
I was simply trying to make the point that, as with everything our government does, it is ineffective.
February 17, 2022
Mike,
There has always been smuggling, I can remember my mother smuggling butter after WW2. They used to get the train down south and bring back things that were still rationed in the UK.
And in the 80ās smuggling diesel was the thing!
It worked both ways, so it may again as the diesel smuggling only entailed pulling the pump nozzle through the hedge!!!
February 17, 2022
āThe U.K. government should move now to offer NI SOME of the Brexit benefits. ā
Sounds a bit half-hearted. Why not trigger Article 16 and abandon all checks? Just treat NI the same as the rest of the U.K.
Johnson will not do this, of course. He should not therefore be claiming to have āgot Brexit doneā. Another negative when deciding whether he should be removed from office.
February 17, 2022
Quite right. The Protocol needs to be completely torn up and NI treated in EXACTLY the same way as any other part of the country. There are ZERO checks or certificates required to move goods from Liverpool to London, and the exact same should apply for goods going from Liverpool to Londonderry.
But you are also right that neither Boris nor Sunak nor Truss nor any of the other traitors and cowards in cabinet will do this. The backbenchers – even the so-called Brexiteers – are equally to blame. They have had more than enough opportunity to force Boris to act. They could have threatened him with a vote of no confidence, for instance. But they have done NOTHING. That is why I will NEVER vote for them again.
February 17, 2022
Tear it up if you like, it will still be a binding international Treaty . No one forced the UK to put a border down the Irish Sea, the Uk agreed to do it. It was the oven ready deal – you knew what you voted for, right?
February 17, 2022
JR, I’m told that this site is unsafe because its security certificate has expired.
February 17, 2022
Yesterday I sent the following email to Keir Starmer, carbon copied to Peter Kyle and blind carbon copied to all the other Labour MPs. That took some time, but I was induced to do it by the news that the Labour leader has at long last adopted a sensible and constructive policy on Brexit:
https://johnredwoodsdiary.com/2022/02/16/__trashed/#comment-1300112
plus the recognition that I’d already sent enough emails to the so-called “Conservative and Unionist” MPs, most of it seems only care about the union and Northern Ireland and its unionists to the extent required by their party leader, the Great Charlatan, which means not just nothing more than lip service but even worse than that a stream of brazen lies from his lips.
Anyway this is what I sent, headed “Sorting out the Northern Ireland protocol”:
“Dear Mr Starmer, now you have finally said āWe have exited the EU and weāre not going backā, and āthereās no case for rejoiningā, and āI want to make it workā, I would politely suggest that your top priority for making it work should be the potentially very dangerous mess of the Northern Ireland protocol highlighted by your Shadow Secretary of State Peter Kyle on Sunday:
https://www.newsletter.co.uk/news/politics/good-friday-agreement-under-huge-pressure-says-shadow-ni-secretary-3566233
“Good Friday Agreement under ‘huge pressure’ says shadow NI secretary”
āMr Kyle told Skyās Trevor Phillips On Sunday: āWe have a Prime Minister goes to Northern Ireland, makes an absolute solemn promise there will be no border down the Irish Sea and has no intention of honouring that promise, and in fact breaks it straightaway.ā
Agreeing with him:
https://inews.co.uk/opinion/the-northern-ireland-peace-agreement-is-crumbling-but-boris-johnson-does-not-seem-to-care-1456158
āThe Northern Ireland Peace Agreement is crumbling, but Boris Johnson does not seem to careā
There was always an alternative and better solution to the problem of the Irish land border, one which unlike the present protocol would not have put the Good Friday Agreement at any significant risk, namely the proposal for “dual autonomy” or “mutual enforcement” worked up by former EU Commission Director General Sir Jonathan Faull and two professors of European law in August 2019:
https://verfassungsblog.de/an-offer-the-eu-and-uk-cannot-refuse/
“An Offer the EU and UK Cannot Refuse”
And as has been pointed out recently:
https://www.conservativehome.com/platform/2022/02/peter-lilley-the-protocol-mutual-enforcement-of-the-law-can-ensure-goods-are-eu-uk-compliant-without-border-checks.html
“This approach is commonly called āmutual enforcementā, 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 ārebalancing measuresā.”
Therefore I would urge you to press the government to adopt that approach, preferably before invoking Article 16 of the protocol.”
February 17, 2022
All Iāve seen since 2016 is capitulation to the EUā¦.Iāve seen nothing to date under Boris and his government since the signing of the TCA & NIP to suggest that this policy of capitulation and appeasement isnāt going to change anytime soon
Its it about time that this government was honest with the electorate and publically stated that they like the current arrangements
February 17, 2022
+1 Glen
February 17, 2022
Once again you offer us a vision of what we could easily have and that is very much more appealing than what is provided and the Government will continue to offer appeasement to the Evil Empire whilst harming British interests.
February 17, 2022
All Iāve seen since 2016 is capitulation to the EUā¦.Iāve seen nothing to date under Boris and his government since the signing of the TCA & NIP to suggest that this policy of capitulation and appeasement isnāt going to change anytime soon
Maybe this government likes the current arrangements
February 17, 2022
O/T re site certificate expired? – The Firefox browser I use today gives an automatic warning that “Web sites prove their identity via certificates, which are valid for a set time period. The certificate for johnredwoodsdiary.com expired on 16/02/2022”. It seems to be that issued by cPanel, Inc. Certification Authority.
Of course, I ignored the warning not to proceed to access this site. š
February 17, 2022
We all know there is no point in negotiating with the EU. Its avowed mission is to make England’s life as difficult as possible. In fact, I think that its next move will be to try to fracture the UK, so we should not try to placate the monster and we should tread our own path.
The Tories must adopt traditional Conservative policies and try to increase the tax take by growth using the policies you constantly recommend. Good luck!
February 17, 2022
I agree, John, but it isn’t just the EU trying to fracture the UK. I have lost count of the number of UK politicians conspiring with the EU to overturn our democratic decision to leave the EU. It is still happening, 6 years on. Will they ever respect the democratic decision of the electorate? Allowing politicians to weaken/destroy democracy and conspire with a foreign government to install that foreign government over the UK is being too lenient. Could, or would, they do the same with China, for instance? Where do we draw the line?
February 17, 2022
The European Union need do nothing, even if it had the intention that you claim.
England has done everything possible to make England’s life difficult, and so long as the ERG hold sway among the Tories, and they remain in office, it will continue to do so.
February 18, 2022
England ?
February 17, 2022
Good morning Sir John .
As an ex Ulster man, I moved to England when Blair started his shenanigans as I did not trust him ( he was always pro Republican), I used to despair at the ignorance of a lot of Westminster Mpās.
You restore my confidence, your understanding of the problem and your solution is needed now before NI slips further into the mire of the eu.
Please use your influence !
February 17, 2022
It seems to be the season for being disjointed when it comes to standing on two feet and making decisions.
When our negotiators realise that it is not rain running down their necks after all this time, they are going to have to take firm decisions, walk away and stop talking about what they might or not do and JFDI.
We have lost enough face as it is recently with all that’s going on, so if it is as important as some of our politicians would have us believe about driving through all these grandiose projects with no consideration to the taxpayers, it is time to step up to the mark on NI and finish this embarrassment once and for all.
February 17, 2022
Good suggestions, but Boris will just give the EU whatever they ask for/demand. He is more interested in a easy life than defending the UK’s interests or the interests of the majority. I hope that the threat of losing his job will get him off his backside and defend the UK against the EU and the noisy minorities , for once, but I won’t be holding my breath!
He can always delegate the tasks to someone competent, if he can be bothered, and if any Ministers are actually competent.
February 17, 2022
Shirley M
Whatever they ask for or demand.
Very true and frightening. There is an invitation being floated for the UK to head up a new European Security Council. What don’t they understand we voted for out. Anything to keep us aligned with their U.S.Europe dreams.
It will be a poisoned chalice but on past performance Boris will agree to it.
How can things be so bad when he has an 80 majority. You couldn’t make it up.
February 17, 2022
But isn’t it time the Government offered the whole of the UK some benefits from Brexit? So far it seems to have achieved precisely nothing, with little sign that it is even trying to do so.
February 17, 2022
OT Earlier today I was denied access to to your site by Google with the message it was “unsafe” even after selecting their advanced security option. Now I see that your bookmark says “privacy error”. Someone seems to want to prevent access to your diary and/or from comments being made.
February 17, 2022
The Protocol does not prohibit diversion of trade. Why do you keep saying it does?
Reply Try re reading it
February 17, 2022
I did. It does not prohibit diversion of trade. Which Article do you think does this?
February 17, 2022
We have had this discussion before, eg:
https://johnredwoodsdiary.com/2022/01/06/getting-brexit-done-2/#comment-1289284
Do we have to keep going over and over the same old ground?
Reply You go over this ground all the time whatever topic I post. I will repeat this from time to time whilst seeking govt change. this is just ahead of another EU/U.K. meeting to discuss it all again
February 17, 2022
+1
And you get it posted, plus links. While I . . . ?
February 17, 2022
He is linking to this site
February 18, 2022
Which I once done and had the post deleted.
February 17, 2022
My comment was for Paola.
February 17, 2022
The protocol is rather long, Sir John. For those readers like myself who don’t have your expert competence in perusing official documents, it would help if you could please say which sections you’re referring to.
reply A previous post gave some of the quotes
February 18, 2022
JRās reply = the dog ate my homework. If he really knew, heād say!
Reply See 28.01.22posting with quotes from Protocol. You must be desperate to lie like this.
February 17, 2022
All sound proposals, so why will the government not implement any of them ?
Are they scared of Biden ? I doubt it ! Even Sleepy Joe must be starting to realise that we are the only country he can rely on in Europe as a steadfast ally and to lead NATO’s activities this side of the pond.
February 17, 2022
Oh yes, on RTE news the Irish Republic is pleased with the increase in trade from it to NI as a result of the NI/UK border. The EU’s plan is on track…
Is it necessary for the UK to have a new PM in order to thwart the EU’s objectives?
February 17, 2022
These are sensible suggestions. It is unclear to me why the UK government is being so tardy in resolving the matter. Is it the civil service dragging its feet or just being the civil service as described by Dame Kate Bingham in her excellent Romanes lecture?
February 17, 2022
oldtimer :
Thanks for alerting me to Kate Bingham’s excellent and informative lecture.
February 17, 2022
And the Times reports that a year on from our Brexit deal, a majority of exporters are saying increased costs and delays plus bureaucracy are making us uncompetitive.
I still believe in the benefits of leaving but your government is letting the electorate down by not pushing through with them
Please set out clearly the discernible benefits to date apart from the monotone that is vaccine roll out.
February 17, 2022
Especially when Brexit was irrelevant to the decision over the vaccine roll out. Any EU member state was entirely free to go their own way on this, as Hungary demonstrated.
February 17, 2022
Are not Hungary being disciplined by the EU central command?
February 17, 2022
Not for their decisions over vaccines.
February 18, 2022
Yeah absolutely no connection
Just a coincidence.
February 17, 2022
Our exports to the EU fell by Ā£20 billion last year – but on the other hand our IMPORTS from the EU fell by Ā£45 billion. So our balance of trade has IMPROVED by Ā£25 billion! So it’s actually very good news. And remember that this was BEFORE the UK government implemented any checks on EU imports (treasonously handing EU businesses an advantage over British ones. My disgust and loathing of Boris Johnson is beyond measure).
Given the EU’s refusal to agree to unfettered trade (THEIR decision, NOT OURS, and NOT required by Brexit), friction was inevitable, and we would have been far better off going for a WTO relationship (as proposed by our host) and eschewing the one-sided deal that they offered us and which the coward and traitor Boris johnson signed us up to.
February 17, 2022
It’s your govt. as much as Sir John’s. He is a backbench MP albeit one of long standing and considerable clout with other MPs and members of the govt. but he has no executive power. It seems to me that he is doing the utmost that he can to get this matter resolved as quickly as possible.
February 17, 2022
By now the minutiae of the NIP is little better than a running sore. Apply a large dose of Art 16 pointing out its negative effect on the integrity of the UK and the Good Friday Agreement, that merits its removal. If the EU want a border let them create on in Eire. Frankly I am tired of even hearing about it, and our dithering government’s inaction over it.
February 17, 2022
Art 16 says nothing about the integrity of the UK. Art 16 says nothing about the Good Friday Agreement. Maybe read it before you claim it does things it doesn’t do?
February 17, 2022
Northern Ireland voted heavily against Brexit because they knew what a mess it would cause. But you Brexiters never listened and thought you could solve it by bluster. But like blockages at our ports, new Brexit red tape and vital workers gone home, you are now understanding finally your utter folly. You never had a plan did you?
Reply Yes we did. It is the Remain forces in government who wanted an Agreement with the EU that has caused the trouble.
February 17, 2022
I get it. Brexitās a failure but itās always someone elseās fault
February 17, 2022
Oh yes, the Blob, so useful to hide the inadequacies of the 2016 āplanā.
February 17, 2022
Just over a third of the electorate voted against Brexit.
The others voted for it or chose not to express a view.
More people abstained than voted against Brexit.
February 17, 2022
Unbelievably some of the disloyal Tory troublemakers are still in Parliament.
February 18, 2022
And if they are there itās because good Britons put them there in the last GE, 12 December 2019, remember.
February 17, 2022
Government is not supreme.
Parliament is.
You Tories have a majority of eighty, and YOU negotiated and voted through your deal including the NIP.
No pro-European Union group whatsoever has been allowed any input at all to its terms.
February 17, 2022
Hello Sir John,
Agree with every word, but why do we have a government that does not act. Both Lord Frost & Liz Truss have threatened to act but neither have actually done so. Does the problem then lie with the PM who refuses to back up their words with actions? Does the PM have a backbone or a wishbone? He showed the EU that he was weak when he kept moving the deadline in the negotiations to leave in 2020. Is that the problem? The EU know that at the end of the day the PM will talk tough but act weak. On pensions & tax increases he has broken manifesto promises & still seems blind to the damage that does to ordinary people. Yet still, the PM & Chancellor refuse to cancel the NI tax rise. Why don’t they know that the best way to level up is to cut taxes & red tape?
February 17, 2022
One aspect of Brexit has not been mentioned anywhere, to my knowledge :
I have continued to buy goods from the EU but instead of paying VAT to the EU country from whom the goods have been ordered, I have paid it to HM Treasury.
Because we have a large trade deficit with the EU, this change must have boosted net tax receipts to the Treasury but by how much I have no idea.
This might be a good question to ask trade ministers.
February 17, 2022
As I understand it, the EU only collected VAT charged on items that came from outside the EU. For any goods you buy from the EU leaving makes no difference. The benefit to the Treasury is that they now collect VAT from imports outside of the EU.
February 17, 2022
When I used to buy an item mail order before Brexit from an online shop in Germany, I paid German MwSt (VAT) on the purchase.
After Brexit, the German shop has had to either register as a UK supplier and collects and pays VAT on my purchase to the Treasury or sends the goods to the UK tax-free and the courier service collects UK VAT on delivery.
Either way, it is HM Treasurey rather than the German equivalent that collects the tax on my purchase. Today I purchased an item costing ā¬186 from a supplier in Hamburg. They have charged me 20% VAT and will remit that amount to London.
February 17, 2022
Seeing that you now claim it is so bad Mr Redwood, one wonders why you voted in favour of the Northern Ireland Protocol.
Didnāt you read the Withdrawal Agreement before you voted for it?
If you have changed your mind, why do you assume some of the millions of people conned into voting for the Brexit fraud in 2016 havenāt changed their minds?
Reply Yes I read it, argued for changes and was told to expect changes in the Trade Agreement to follow. When there were no changes I did not vote for the final Agreement and spoke out again about the NI issues.
February 17, 2022
O my goodness, you never understood the first thing about the Withdrawal Agreement, Mr Redwood! For Ireland, as for the money the UK owes and for rights of UK citizens living in the EU, the Withdrawal Agreement WAS the final agreement. And you voted for it, not knowing that! Amazing!
Reply No it was not. Try reading Hansard. Also read Article 18.3 of the Protocol.
February 18, 2022
Well what changes do you want to the Protocol? You can agree the UK will follow EU rules, but you ruled that out, and brought down Mrs May when she offered that. You can ask the EU to trust the UK, but the EU has said no, we trust member states but we don’t trust non member states, so Brexit makes that a non-starter. You can put a border between NI and Ireland but President Biden has made clear he regards that as a breach of the Good Friday Agreement, and will treat the UK as a rogue state. Non-starter. So you’re left with the Protocol. And nothing else. Funny how Brexit goes well until it meets reality
Reply Mutual enforcement is a simple answer which will work. As the EU does not want an answer we should impose it. It is compatible with the aims of the Protocol
February 18, 2022
Thank you for your honest reply. So your plan is to commit a flagrant violation of an international Treaty – one signed by the UK just over two years ago, and supported by every single Conservative MP at the time. No one would ever trust the Uk again. Mrs Thatcher would be appalled at this carefree attitude to legality
Reply No need to violate the Agreement which is ambiguous and contradictory
February 17, 2022
If they continue to be problematic you know the solution, so does the Government, just walk away and set out our own terms and conditions.
The EU does not control the Irish sea, or Northern Ireland, but that is what it seeks to do.
Let them police any imports from Northern Ireland to Ireland themselves on their side of the existing border if they want to.
February 17, 2022
Perhaps the government could do the Hospitality industry, across the whole of the UK, the favour of NOT increasing VAT.
February 17, 2022
Your suggestions should be implemented immediately Sir John but without Lord Frost in charge I think the chances are zero.
Of course there needs to be a free port. But, have any other free ports been established anywhere in the UK? If so I have yet to hear about them!
reply The For Sec has taken over from David Frost
February 17, 2022
Reply to reply.
Watching the peerformance of the For. Sec. I feel no confidence and expect a fudge.
February 17, 2022
BOF,
Agreed. Truss is shaping up for a sell out.
February 17, 2022
Sir John, you have no idea how angry I am with Boris Johnson, the rest of the Cabinet and your party in general for the appalling betrayal of Northern Ireland. This is not just an issue which only affects that province, it affects us all. Just yesterday the Telegraph reported that British farmers can no longer even send their cattle to NI now as they need expensive and bureaucratic changes to their paperwork and ear tags, since NI is now legally part if the EU and UK certificates no longer apply or are acceptable there. WE HAVE SURRENDERED PART OF OUR OWN COUNTRY TO OUR ENEMIES.
What Boris and the rest of the party have done is TREASON. The Protocol needs to be resiled from IN WHOLE, not just tinkered with in part by activating article 16. And NO, we should NOT offer “U.K. enforcement to prevent the on sale and delivery of goods into the EU from NI that are not compliant with EU rules”. Stop pushing this appeasement of an organisation that hates us and is trying to destroy us! WE MUST NOT HELP THE EU IN ANY WAY. They are not helping us, are they? Indeed, we should be deliberately adopting any measures we can think of to screw them over as much as possible!
February 17, 2022
Sir John,
The attitude of the EU towards negotiations has always been that their interpretation of any agreement is the only correct one. This intransigence will soon become apparent to the Poles and Hungarians now that the EU Commission has the power to withhold funds from those member states who do not follow their directives.
February 17, 2022
Twitch, twitch, twitch, go those curtains again.
February 17, 2022
Yawn yawn goes everyone else
February 18, 2022
So, P2, now you represent all the contributors on this blog? Are you getting too big for your breeches?
February 17, 2022
Why is the Tory party entirely focused on Ukraine? We are not party to Minsk I-II and neither is
‘our special relationship’; perhaps it’s just so Truss can engage in photo ops in a fur hat irrespective of the weather?
The Tory Party has two urgent foreign policy issues to resolve: Northern Ireland and the invasion of our country by unassimilable aliens without documentation. Furthermore, these invaders are causing considerable annoyance to our neighbour, France, because of their illegal occupation of their country in squalid encampments. The Tory party laying down the law on the operation of Nord Stream II is also unlikely to curry favour with Germany which actually has a manufacturing industry to support with a reliable gas supply so it could not be cut off by a hostile neighbour, and would rather the matter was left between themselves and Russia who between them have invested very large sums on constructing the pipeline.
Perhaps if the Tory party attempted to assist our neighbours with their problems and didn’t interfere in their business, they might get a more sympathetic hearing on Northern Ireland? Isn’t that how diplomacy works in the real world?
reply That is why I am talking* NI today not Ukraine. unlikely for EU to give any ground on NI as they want to split NI from UK
February 17, 2022
forthurst,
Agreed Ukraine is a useful distraction from Partygate and a chance for Johnson to play at being an important figure on the world stage like his hero Churchill.
Like his hero he has no interest in the dreary steeples of Fermanagh and Tyrone.
February 17, 2022
The government is certainly making it easy for the EU to want to dig its heels in. ‘Our special relationship’ doesn’t like us either. So who are our special friends these days?
February 17, 2022
ChrisS
Might be a better time for you to question your actions and start boycotting eu goods and food produce .
February 17, 2022
I have changed my purchasing habits for larger items, MFD :
I was going to buy a new BMW Motorcycle this year. Instead, I just took delivery of a new Triumph but, shamefully, they are no longer made in Britain but in Thailand. Why ?
In November I sold a Classic 1984 Mercedes 380SL and purchased a 1955 Rolls Royce to replace it. The cost was roughly the same but, such is the quality of the engineering in the Rolls Royce, that I expect she will still be running right up to the time when it is no longer possible to buy petrol. That is what I call sustainable !
February 18, 2022
PS : On principle, I will no longer buy anything from France. I suspect many other Brits are doing the same.
February 17, 2022
EU appeasing and gutless ‘Boris’, will do nothing to preserve NI and UK sovereignty.
Sir John will of course remain a totally loyal Tory no matter how much his party and its leader betrays us. Thus ‘Boris’ knows he will face no trouble.
February 17, 2022
Sir JR
“We should offer NI some of the Brexit benefits”
This is very interesting concept, I think the rest of the UK is still waiting for the benefits promised as well.
February 17, 2022
Best growth of the G7.
Eh bill?
February 17, 2022
Why is Canada still a member of the Queen’s Commonwealth family and why has Trudeau not been condemned for his brutality and fascist assault on the citizens of Canada?
If what we are seeing in Canada is replicated across the west then I foresee a most dark and terrible place for us all
Trudeau and Ardern must be condemned by Johnson, NOW
February 18, 2022
Dom
Whilst I agree with you I am afraid it is none of our business, much like what is going on in Ukraine any of our business. But trust me, things will soon work themselves out and the likes of Trudeau, Ardern and not forgetting Morrison (Australia) will come to regret their actions.
February 17, 2022
Time to bin the NI Protocol; it is not what we voted for.
February 18, 2022
Please state exactly what you imagine that you did vote for, and offer proof that the other seventeen million voted for exactly the same thing, eh?
Then explain how you can get that.
Thanks.
Otherwise…