The fact that the UK has broken international law once again by unilaterally extending the grace periods for checks on goods moving between Britain and Northern Ireland shouldn’t come as a shock. The man in charge, Lord Frost, is the same person who supported the idea last time. Quite shocking from a former diplomat, I wonder what his former colleagues think of his statesmanship?
If the minister had actually spent the last couple of months ensuring the smooth operation of the checks, trying to understand what he had agreed to, negotiated a better deal in the first place or even tried to get the EU to agree to the extensions, the UK wouldn’t be in this position. But it now faces a legal challenge from the European Commission, one it seems unlikely to win.
In a sense, I suspect, it doesn’t care. This is much more about appearing to play tough, appeasing the Unionists and thumbing noses at foreigners; all of which appeal to the Government’s core Brexit supporters.
But the deal with the EU has yet to be approved by the European Parliament. Even a statesman well below the level of Bismark or Metternich would have waited a bit, conned the EP into voting it into law and then broken the treaty.
More cynical perhaps but much better timing.
https://jonty.substack.com/
What are you talking about Jonty? There is to my knowledge no signed off agreement on the EU side so why shouldn't we unilaterally extend the grace period for checks on goods? The EU is behave more like some fascist dictator state every day failing to accept the UK as a sovereign equal (even on UK soil). Lord Frost is playing hardball as any decent negotiator would. Respect to the man.
So Jonty you would like the supermarkets in Northern Ireland to have empty shelves and the people starve to death whilst the EU pontificates about what it is going to do next in its not so sly reunification of Ireland. And if the EU builds its army will we have an EU army of occupation marching up Whitehall?
The EU was always going to take revenge, it is far better it is on trade matters than a physical human cost in terms of people dying.
The UK & Ireland could sit down and sort this without the EU blunders but it would require the Irish to leave the EU and that isn't sadly going to happen.
And all this appeals to us Brexiteers? No not really but we are going to throw the towels off the sun loungers reserving them by the pool and make ourselves comfortable whilst the EU decides its next move.