The cunning plan
The PM has given one of those interviews to the Sunday Telegraph that British politicians do from time to time; the ones based on the idea that johnny foreigner can’t read English. Besides its theme that this FTA is a triumph and that the Government has been secretly working on all sorts of cunning wheezes to undercut the EU, which Brussels didn’t spot, there is one other line that grabs the attention.
Boris Johnson apparently said on the subject of the EU possibly introducing tariffs because the UK does not abide by level playing field agreements; “the treaty is ‘explicit that if this sort of thing starts happening regularly..then the whole free trade aspect collapses’ and the UK would simply revert to WTO terms.
For a start it doesn’t appear that simple, it only happens after 4 years and only if both sides can’t renegotiate a better understanding. At that point either side can drop the trade provisions in this deal, which would also cover aviation and transport agreements.
Why the British government thinks this is holding a gun to the EU’s head rather than its own is beyond me. But also boasting about it just days after signing the deal and claiming it is a triumph, seems perverse and all too reminiscent of the attempt to tear up the Withdrawal Agreement. Also everyone I ever met in Brussels spoke very good English and they now know what cakeism is.
https://jonty.substack.com/