You have to congratulate the Brexiteers, they do know how to set the agenda on their terms. Just one headline about “sausage wars” and every journalist in town is talking about it. The negotiations starting today will therefore be a triumph if the government can declare that British bangers will be freely available in Belfast. If not then the government will get on its high horse and demand all patriots come to its aid to see off this gross attack on its sovereignty.
The convoluted contortions that Brexiteers have to twist themselves into to believe this stuff is really quite amusing to see. Apparently it was the EU’s obstinate insistence that if you want to be in the Single Market you have to follow its rules that meant the UK was forced to accept the deal it ended up with. If only they had been realistic and let the UK have all the benefits of membership and none of the costs or burdens all would have been fine and dandy. Why the UK didn’t force the EU to do this is beyond me as it held all the cards, but due to some unfortunate oversight the EU somehow held the UK’s feet to the fire and made it sign something deeply to its disadvantage. This was done so cleverly that for the first six months the government thought it was a triumph, only to then realise it was a deeply flawed mess. Fiendishly cunning these continental types aren’t they?
As for sovereignty don’t get me started, how the UK government can of its own free will agree to checks in the Irish Sea, then turn round and denounce them as an assault on its sovereignty is mind boggling.
But then they have to do this sort of thing, having lied throughout about the consequences of their “oven ready deal”, the only way out is to blame the EU for everything they signed up to and claim they didn’t know what it meant. Hence “sausage wars”, “EU intransigence”, “unseen consequences” and all the rest.
There is however one tiny flaw in all this, just a very small fly in the ointment. International treaties are legally binding and therefore it all rests on the EU never, ever calling the government’s bluff.
https://jonty.substack.com/
Boris got us out of the EU by agreeing all manner of NIP rubbish to humour the EU. The EU then decides to apply the letter of the agreement after it became clear we were hoping for the spirit of the agreement.
Regardless we are out and we will always thank Boris for that achievement even if you remainers are musing at the rest of us in the EU's torture chamber being stretched in all manner of directions!