St. Angela the serious
Already the “serious politician’s serious politician” Angela Merkel is on her way to beatification. Having to stand by the Prime Minister while he witters on about “the wurst is over” takes a poker face but it is the ability not to snigger when the PM talks about the Northern Ireland Protocol, that really demands admiration.
Angela Merkel knows full well that the British PM used negotiations over NI to stab his predecessor in the back and get the job for himself, then he negotiated a deal which stabbed the DUP and unionists in the back, put a border down the Irish Sea and then he won an election proclaiming this was a brilliant deal.
Which is why when he says “Imagine if bratwurst could not be moved from Dortmund to Dusseldorf, because of the jurisdiction of an international court; it would be absolutely extraordinary”, it takes amazing will power not to point that this is the deal he wanted and got.
Being a serious politician, Angela Merkel would never do such a thing. But listening to the man who dreamt it up, and implemented it, denounce it as an EU imposition, would try the patience of a saint.
https://jonty.substack.com/