Now he says, “There can be few people who do not now realise how disastrous the Northern Ireland Protocol is for that part of the UK. It is divisive, restrictive and is causing real harm to the local economy.”
As usual the Chingford dimwit is the last person to get it. IDS is right, there are few people who don’t now realise it’s a disaster for the UK, but the rest of us got it before the referendum.
He called for a border down the Irish Sea although he didn’t seem to realise that is what he was doing at the time in spite of, “more than 100 hours in Committee over the past three and a half years.” Unfortunately, he didn’t note that at the last minute Johnson and Frost had slipped in the NI protocol. It was the secret price of Brexit.
They were in a corner and knew we couldn't survive a no deal Brexit and so they clutched at the nearest passing straw which happened to be something "no British prime minister could ever agree to" (remember that?). Afterwards Johnson denied that it meant checks of any kind between GB and NI.
One of the reasons IDS now gives for urging the UK government to "show some courage, take unilateral action and end the protocol” is that the NIP is somehow stopping the government knocking 5% VAT off energy costs. This is the first I have heard about it and it sounds ridiculous to me. I’m pretty sure the government could cut VAT in GB alone if it wanted to.
It is just something else to blame the EU for. Imagine trashing a solemnly agree international treaty lodged with the United Nations in order to make a small adjustment to VAT - that you could almost certainly do anyway. Could we sink any lower?
However, the article is not that interesting (he would say that wouldn't he?). But from the comments below, it appears even the slowest Daily Mail readers are beginning to realise the government and IDS just don’t understand what they negotiated and voted through in October 2019.
This is the best rated:
"There's nothing wrong with the Northern Ireland protocol. I'm from a Unionist background and I support it. Buying local is better and cheaper and it helps support local businesses. Also Northern Ireland exports to the Republic of Ireland are booming. The problem with the DUP and other Unionist politicians is that they think it makes Northern Ireland Un-British which is simply not true. They just hate the Republic of Ireland. Typical sectarian politics."
And this the second best:
"The UK negotiated an international agreement. The UK signed it. The Northern Ireland economy is booming because it, uniquely, remains in the Single Market for most goods, thereby proving your decision to leave the EU was a spectacular act of self harm. Suck it up. It's all on the British government, not on the EU. If your first act is to break the provisions of a treaty you negotiated, best of luck with trade deals elsewhere, because no one, anywhere, trusts Westminster anymore - or, indeed, has any respect for it, as we have seen from recent diplomatic snubs. Brexit voters did nothing but turn a world power into a laughing stock."
This is the worst rated:
"Northern Ireland is part of the United Kingdom! Treat it like it! Stop discriminating against Northern Ireland now"
Is the tide starting to turn? I think perhaps it is.
Worse as far as the government is concerned, quite a few people were pointing out that Northern Ireland is actually doing quite well and even unionists support the NIP. Comments in favour of the protocol got a lot of thumbs up.
It would be madness to trigger Article 16 because (a) it wouldn’t get rid the protocol anyway, (b) it would upset the majority of people in Ulster and (c) it would risk retaliation by the EU up to and including suspension of the entire TCA. It would be cheered by the ERG and the DUP but nobody else.
The most embarrassing thing about Brexit is how we must appear to the rest of the world. I assume there is a lot of sniggering and head scratching at how low we have come.
And on this point, Andrew Rawnsley had a terrific piece in The Observer about the UK being engulfed simultaneously by multiple scandals involving politicians, the royal family and the police. He says we’ve had them all before but never at the same time, which I think is true.
Rawnsley says, “These multiple crises in multiple institutions have features in common. One overarching theme is a paucity of high-calibre personnel.” You can say that again.
Don’t forget that IDS was elected leader of the Conservative party and under different circumstances could well have become PM. We may still get Liz Truss!
This isn’t a surprise to me. Having worked with German, French, Finnish and Italian companies, it’s easy to compare them with the British firms that I had worked for before. I can honestly say the paucity of high-calibrate personnel is not restricted to the world of politics. It runs through industry and commerce as well.
What we are seeing is the last days of empire where the population has grown so lazy and stupid it cannot survive any longer. Of course, the actual British empire went fifty years ago, what we are now seeing is even the dreams of it going.
