The House of Lords EU committee yesterday published a highly critical report into the state of play with regard to implementing the NI protocol. I say highly critical - in fact they gave it what we used to call a right panning. If I was Michael Gove, the man responsible for the shambles, I would buy a small sweet shop in Oban, grow a full beard and leave public life for ever. But they don't do shame do they? These men have egos like the granite face of a mountain.
Tony Connelly, the Europe editor at RTE has a tremendous summary of it HERE
The best bits are in the conclusions - paragraph 85 onwards - in Chapter 6, and I think all of Connelly's quotes come from that section. They are devastating:
Connelly:
"Peers have also accused the UK of appearing to "reinterpret" the Protocol when it comes to one of its central elements. The report repeatedly warns of what it calls the "Herculean" task facing Northern Ireland business to come to terms with the Protocol, and the fact that time is running out for them to prepare for the changes involved."
And what about this stinger:
Peers have accused the British government of issuing "a series of seemingly contradictory statements, amounting to an inability to confirm and explain precisely what it agreed with the EU under the terms of the Protocol".
The uncertainties and lack of detail from the UK government, said the network during hearings, "hindered Northern Ireland stakeholders from preparing for the 'seismic change' that would happen on 1 January 2021".
I think they do know what was agreed, the difficulty is in admitting it. And like the EU, peers suspect the UK government is trying to rewrite the protocol:
The report notes that "whereas the Protocol refers only to goods 'at risk' of moving into the EU, the Command Paper strikingly introduces references to goods 'at clear or substantial risk', or at 'genuine and substantial risk', of doing so". This is an "apparent attempt" to reinterpret the Protocol, the committee concludes.
And you can see what a fine line the government is treading since the more distant our relationship with the EU is the more checks will be required and the fissure opening up between GB and NI will only grow wider, risking Loyalist fury and a return to the troubles. Connelly again:
The Lords committee also states that the burden of the Protocol on Northern businesses will be greater depending on the ability of the EU and UK to conclude a close free trade agreement (FTA) by the end of this year.
"The greater the future regulatory alignment between the UK and the EU, the less burdensome such checks will be," the report states.
"It is therefore highly desirable that a comprehensive UK-EU free trade agreement should be concluded by the end of 2020. If it is not, the consequences for Northern Ireland's economy arising from the imposition of all the checks and processes envisaged in the Protocol will be significant."
The report itself says (para 87):
The Government has stated that it sees no need to construct new bespoke customs infrastructure in Northern Ireland, or in ports in Great Britain facing Northern Ireland, and that there will be no construction at points of entry where no plant or animal health checks are currently carried out. It is incumbent on the Government to explain how the new processes required under the Protocol can be undertaken, in the absence of new infrastructure. In particular, it needs to clarify whether and how existing infrastructure at ports will be used.
Paragraph 90:
In particular, the Government, through the Joint Committee, urgently needs to explain how agri-food controls will be conducted, their frequency and the level of physical checks. More detail is needed on the statement that “further designations may also be required at other existing sites”. The Government needs to clarify if the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster’s suggestion that some checks could be conducted during the sea crossing from Great Britain to Northern Ireland remains a live proposal.
Gove and Johnson have all got themselves into a tangle from which it's hard to see an escape. Northern Ireland was never seen in the referendum as an issue at all yet time and again it keeps coming up with obstacles and problems. Every time they take their eye off the ball - which is most of the time - some new difficulty emerges.
At some point later this month or in the coming months there will be so many Brexit related fires raging in every part of the country that the government will be overwhelmed by a firestorm of their own making. That or it's capitulation on basically everything.
