Lord Frost of Allenton has been in Northern Ireland over the last two days meeting with business and community leaders. The unelected bureaucrat who was responsible for negotiating both the contentious NI protocol part of the Withdrawal Agreement and the terms of the TCA, talked during the visit and tweeted afterwards (see below) as if an entirely different Lord Frost had done all the terrible work that had led to the massive disruption for businesses and citizens across the province. Here's his tweet:
It was a pleasure to begin two days in Northern Ireland at Hillmount Garden Centre in Belfast and end them at @FoylePort - just some of the many great businesses forming part of Northern Ireland's huge contribution to our common endeavour as a country after Brexit. pic.twitter.com/uIf79GM94k
— David Frost (@DavidGHFrost) June 2, 2021
He goes on:
"I did also hear from many about the problems caused by the current operation of the NI Protocol. We recognise the concerns this is causing. Some of the problems are becoming urgent, but we still look to reach agreement with the EU on pragmatic arrangements to resolve them.
"In any actions we take, our top priority will always be protecting the Belfast (Good Friday) Agreement. We hope everyone with an interest in Northern Ireland sees things the same way. We must all work to help keep Northern Ireland on the positive path of recent year."
It was as if he had accidentally stumbled on a problem and was offering to help, instead of being the architect of all the woes, disruption, political instability and risk of renewed violence being endured by the people of Northern Ireland and suppliers in GB. Note he talks about the "current" operation to give the impression a less onerous "future" operation is coming.
But the BBC reported yesterday that the technical talks being carried on have made "limited progress."
The talks cover around 30 issues ranging from VAT on used cars, to pet travel and the movement of food products from GB to NI with UK officials believing that viable solutions are in sight for just two issues, with partial solutions possible in maybe half a dozen other areas. In other words there is a very long way to go to solve the problems he created.
The BBC's John Campbell hits the nub of the issue in as succinct a way that you will find:
"At the weekend Mr Sefcovic suggested a temporary Swiss-style veterinary agreement as a solution for Northern Ireland, where the UK would continues to follow all EU agri-food rules. He said such a deal could be done in weeks and would remove 80% of GB to NI checks.
"The UK has rejected that and is instead pushing for an equivalence arrangement in which the EU would recognise UK food production standards as being equivalent to its own. The EU has limited equivalence agreements with New Zealand and Canada.
"These mean that some products have minimal physical checks but still require export health paperwork."
Needless to say the EU has rejected the idea of an equivalence arrangement - and with an FTA with Australia in the offing, they are even less likely to soften their position. And that is where we are.
Brexit has boiled down to this issue. Frost says the NI protocol that he negotiated is "unsustainable" and is talking about progress having to be made by mid July as the marching season begins. So we have about six weeks before the next big crisis. It is the irresistible force meeting the immovable object. Something's got to give - and I doubt it will be the EU27.
Meanwhile, the DUP appears to be on the edge of fragmenting with a furious row breaking out as reported by The Belfast Telegraph this morning following an email telling members of the South Down association they “must” back Edwin Poots. There are now threats of mass resignations.
Incidentally, I thought you might like to see this tweeted report of the words of a French TV journalist trying to convey to a French audience what is happening in Britain:
French TV journalists commenting on the UK today,"The English didn't know why they wanted to leave the EU, they didn't understand what would happen when they did, they don't like the consequences of leaving and now they don't want the treaty that they negotiated.”Useful sum up— hopbin #FBPE🇪🇺 Proud collaborator (@hopbin) May 31, 2021
Ain't that right?
The journalist may also have been interested in this tweet too, about a headline in The Telegraph:
🙄 A reminder, for anyone who needs it, that this is in fact *non-EU red tape*. The red tape that comes from leaving the EU.Here in the EU we don't have this red tape.https://t.co/MlrUoNMy7y— Dave Keating (@DaveKeating) June 2, 2021
The EU single market, when it was created back in the early 90s, was described as the greatest bonfire of red tape in human history. Brexit, ably supported by The Telegraph, has seen Britain withdraw from the SM and build back a massive pile of red tape which the hacks at 111 Buckingham Palace Road describe as EU red tape as if the EU is imposing it on us rather than we imposing it on ourselves.
Crazy or what?
