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Putting two fingers up to Biden on Ulster is a big gamble – politicalbetting.com
Putting two fingers up to Biden on Ulster is a big gamble – politicalbetting.com
One thing that I don’t think Johnson and team don’t fully appreciate is the big role Joe Biden and other US politicians played in the Anglo-Iriish agreement in the late 1990s which just about stopped decades of the “troubles” in Ireland. It all might seem a long time ago.
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Though it's interesting as soon as they criticise us, the US magically becomes "our closest ally"...!
Biden knows Britain is a close ally with regards to what's happening with Ukraine/Russia and plenty of other things too. He may say the right formulation of words in public to say he's respecting Ireland, but he's not actually going to do anything about it.
Similarly with the EU. Are Eastern European and even Scandinavian nations going to vote for a trade war with Britain over Ireland right when they're relying upon us to defend them? Yeah, I don't think so.
In completely unrelated news, first funny Daily Mash article I've seen in years: https://www.thedailymash.co.uk/news/arts-entertainment/large-swathes-of-history-off-limits-to-new-doctor-who-20220510220840
The use of what looks a bit like a flatbed Transit as a launch platform is... interesting.
https://twitter.com/UAWeapons/status/1524778779364696066
Finally, we can take a look at the ground launching platform for Brimstone missiles - it was developed by Britain in a very short time especially for the Ukrainian army. The missiles are already used on the front line, however the event we see is likely to be training.
@KyivIndependent
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43m
⚡️Media: Russia may cut off gas supply to Finland on May 13.
Key Finnish politicians have been warned that Russia may cut off the gas supply to Finland on May 13 due to the country’s potential accession to NATO, Finland’s media outlet Iltalehti reports citing anonymous sources.
https://twitter.com/KyivIndependent/status/1524772908991660033
Of course, this whole brouhaha might just be Liz Truss responding to Priti Patel's successful climb up the ConHome ratings by spending £120 million of our money to get a press release about Rwanda.
What actually matters to them, of course, is US support.
Ireland’s corporate tax regime could face a new threat from the latest budget proposals published in the US by president Joe Biden.
Tbf her eggs were freaking awesome
UK military support is about alliances of friendly nations and eastern and Scandinavian nations can see who their allies are - and who they are not.
Germany and France haven't exactly won friends this year with the way they've behaved and the UK has. Ireland is not a nation you turn to when the chips are down and you need support - the UK is.
There is not going to be a trade war. There will be some huffing and puffing and bluff will be called, but that will be it and we will move on.
Heaven forbid they release pisshead Pelosi on us
For myself I support a united Ireland, and as soon as possible. But others don't. What is missing in the debate, whether from the EU, DUP, Labour, LDs, the USA or the RoI is: what, with detail, is the plan which would work, be democratic, and respect the Brexit vote and the GFA? What do you want. They are not telling us, while blaming Boris.
If there isn't something coherent they want, there is little point in blaming Boris, who is left hold a Rubiks cube with no solution.
Perhaps RoI might find themselves put in charge of A16 implementation (and it's end state) at some point in the future if the British insist on trade standoff.
As they did for Brexit, could the DUP be shooting themselves in the other foot now?
Spreadable butter is butter that is warm enough to spread.
(Rancid butter is butter that has been warm enough to spread for a fortnight.)
Last year I bought a butter dish from an artisan ceramic maker at the "Art in the Pen" event in Skipton. Never looked back.
If they want to check things on the Irish border they can, they won't, so that's it.
Shades of Exocet, a searchlight generator and a German engineer....
Ultimately, I don't think it's going to make a difference what the Americans say.
Still there. Pub, restaurant, bakery and shop. Third generation running it.
There is no threat to peace from not checking goods between GB and NI. There is a threat to peace in doing so.
The only threat is to the "integrity of the Single Market" and Biden couldn't care less about that.
Or since he's American, he could care less about that.
Oven ready deal.
Scene: EU/UK Article 50 Negotiations 2019
We are worried about the Northern Ireland situation, we think this agreement could cause problems.
We are worried too, but this agreement is the best solution available.
Not sure we can sign this due to the risk of problems.
If you don't sign this, then we can not have any agreement at all.
How about a safeguarding clause? The deal gets implemented but if the problems we are worried about come to pass, then we can take appropriate safeguarding measures.
If you can take safeguarding measures, then we will need the ability to do the same.
That is reasonable.
*Article 16 is added to the Protocol*
OK with the safeguarding article in the Protocol we are happy with this agreement.
So are we.
*Deal is signed*
Scene: Present
Those problems we were worried about are coming to pass, we may need to implement the safeguarding Article that was put in the Protocol in case this happened.
FBPE style Twitter etc: WHAT!? HOW DARE YOU!? YOU'RE BREAKING THE LAW!? DID YOU NOT FORESEE THESE PROBLEMS WHEN YOU SIGNED THE AGREEMENT?
Besides if the UK voids the Protocol, as we are legally entitled to do based upon the Protocol's own safeguarding article, what is the USA going to care about that years later once the bluff has revealed that doing so was no threat to GFA?
Once the EU's bluff is called and no checks are done on the border of Ireland, why would America care about that at all?
You're oddly buying into the weird pretence the Irish have that Biden and other presidents were Irish more than they were American. He isn't and they weren't. America's interests will always come first and the US-UK relationship is of significantly higher strategic value and US-Ireland or US-EU. The Ukraine conflict and everything that has followed has won us a lot of friends in Washington and made the EU a lot of enemies.
No one in Washington will give two fucks about this while British weapons and intelligence resources are pouring into Ukraine to fend off the Russians. The timing of this is brilliant because the EU is very weak politically and the UK isn't.
I wouldn't ever wish that on the US.
Somethings gonna go off, probably Taiwan..
Though I'll take the Attorney General's word for it that other solutions are legal too. If the AG is wrong, lets see it debated in court if need be, which court would have jurisdiction over that?
Theresa May folded them, at the encouragement of Philip Hammond etc. Thank goodness they're all gone.
Ukraine is irrelevant, unless the UK government is so utterly bat-shit crazy and immoral that it's really going to put a ludicrous attempt to renege on a deal it not only signed, but specifically asked for, above the lives of Ukrainians and our own security. Not a credible threat, is it?
Like he had wanted to do all along because he was jealous of all those other European countries.
The EU isn't even more important to the EU's own member states in the East right now than the UK is, let alone the USA. 😂😂😂
Boris instituted a border cutting off one part of the UK from another because it was an infinitely superior solution to the backstop and the Remain-Parliament we had wouldn't pass any alternative and wouldn't allow us to exit the EU without a deal.
We have a different Parliament now though, so its time to revisit the NI solution.
He deemed us Irish, on the grounds we had changed planes in Dublin and that my girlfriend possibly had some Irish ancestry, and introduced us as such to the other guests, causing much less confusion than you might think.
The relevant court, if it came to it, is the ECJ.
Oh yeah... and don't forget that most of China's military (with the exception of a very small number of modern fighters) is Russian tech.
I suspect that this is Covid related.
Which they - the UK govt - precisely and absolutely did not do. They are now saying again that they might do it. So you might be proven right. But I very much doubt it. You will be proven wrong. Again.
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2022/03/18/joe-biden-may-irish-not-stupid/
With that said, the UK has a very fine tightrope to walk here. A16 needs to be used only to ensure that the EU fulfils its treaty obligations regarding the trusted trader program - it should not be used because Boris didn't think through the consequence of signing a treaty.
EU member states don't need to choose the UK over the EU either, since they are a part of the EU and have votes, we just need them to veto any threatened retaliation. You really think the EU will unanimously get agreement to retaliate over Ireland at this present time? Good luck with that . . .
$17.1 trillion compared with $2.7 trillion
Sadly Hammond and the rest of the EU's useful idiots in the 2017-19 Parliament prevented that from happening. Those idiots have gone now.
They just need to come up with something where everyone thinks they have a win - UK NI is still part of UK, NI unionists - still part of UK, NI Nationalists - not really part of UK, RoI - thank feck they aren’t part of us but also decoupled from rUK, EU - it’s not really UK so we can have side deals.
Everyone’s a winner, treble Jamesons all round.
Also it's $16.2tn vs $3.2tn
Something is going on that is not a simple and much less deadly than it was virus.
I don't see that anything has changed such that it is not similarly to be avoided putting a border between NI & ROI.
It was Boris not some long-gone remainers who instituted the border in the Irish Sea. He could at any time since his 80-seat majority have decided not to. He did not do so. But now you think is the time.
We shall see.