Three big wins coming out so far. Things the EU previously said were impossible.
1) A green lane with no checks for anything going to Northern Ireland
2) Availability of all GB foods, agriculture and medicine to Northern Ireland
3) A break from Stormont on EU laws (this could get downgraded to half a win depending on whether it only applies to new laws)
Then one potential win for the EU, unclear its size until more comes out:
1) Some EU law applying in NI, with ECJ decision maker.
We need to find out more, but right now seems like a 3-1 win for the UK.
1, 2 and a somewhat limited 3 were proposed by Maros Sefcovic back in 2021 following his discussions with Northern Ireland business and politicians. These proposals were subsequently rejected by Johnson, Truss and Frost. It's possible the new proposals are significantly different in the detail from Sefcovic's originals. On the whole it looks like Sunak's main work has been in getting his government on board.
That is halfway to the Sunak deal. Even the headline on agrifood applies to only 80%, rather than 100% of it. And the democratic check is additional consultation, rather than the unionist party at Stormont able to apply a hard brake.
AIUI the brake happens if Stormont votes for it. ie it will in practice need cross community consent and Sinn Fein and DUP to vote for it.
No, just needs 30 votes at Stormont and UK government agreement to block a new law.
If I thought you seriously believed we’d ever rejoin (as opposed to you just being provocative) I’d invest the time in showing why it’s off the table. But you don’t.
A good day for Mr Sunak. He needs to use his better relationship with the EU to get a better GB deal with the EU and a decent deal with the USA. They were off the table before today. If he can do that then he can hope that in time it will improve the economy and subsequently feed through to the people.
Do all that and he will feel a lasting political benefit. But its a start and if he gets similarly practical on the pay disputes, etc, then who knows.
1) 1700 pages of EU law disapplied, with most trade rules coming from the UK legal side (including food safety), so ECJ presence seems pretty limited
2) UK VAT and excise rates and calculations apply, not Irish or EU ones
3) Free GB-NI trade for medicines, medical products, agriculture, construction goods, steel. UK regulation, not EU, on food, jewellery, clothes and medicines applies
4) Data sharing based on existing data collection, so no additional bureaucratic burden for small businesses
5) Stormont break only applies to NEW EU laws - but can be used just by a minority at Stormont AND challenges to it will not be decided by ECJ, but an independent body.
6) Stormont break requires the block by Stormont AND a UK government veto
7) New legal commitment on both UK and EU to protect UK internal market
8) GB-NI trade will be based on UK commercial regulation, not international customs.
Overall I would say this is more like 3-0 for the UK position than 3-1. But both sides win from the deal.
It's just as advertised and, arguably, even better - a fundamental and radical rewrite of the whole NI protocol.
Also, I note that it effectively introduces a new digital border between NI and Eire to monitor north-south movement to compensate, which is a massive concession and something I'd jump on if I were the DUP.
It also sets the precedent of digital borders between the UK and EU, which could be used to reduce trade barriers elsewhere in future. AND the UK can still sign trade deals elsewhere and filter immigration.
Rishi has played a blinder.
Short of agreeing a bit of choreography where the whole EU Commission came into Whitehall and went down on both knees in front of the British government, crying and begging for mercy, whilst the national anthem was played on loudspeaker and a list of famous British military victories read aloud to them accompanied by the Life Guards shouting "Huzzah!" I don't see how how he could have done any better.
True, but the really sad thing is that we didn’t need to elect a tactical genius to achieve all this, but simply to stop electing childish tw*ts who only saw the EU as a straw person to be insulted whenever it suited for personal or political advantage.
The EU were being childish tw*ts as well.
Precisely this sort of deal was being proposed by several of us years ago and it was poo-poohed and lampooned by UTOA Remainers on here as cakeism and fantasy.
They're not laughing now.
FPT - we are, mind. This is just one step back towards the single market. Tick tock.
In terms of tidying up the issues with pets plants and parcels, this deal is not a bad deal, if I was an MP I would vote for it.
In terms of ECJ still being final arbiter over a bit of UK, it’s no change at all, that’s already the case, so no reason not got take the tidy up improvement without actually losing anything on point of principle.
BECAUSE There’s caveats here to the Stormount Break mechanism, the the 30 assembly members needed to trigger the clause, which then merely goes to UK parliament and courts and ultimately EU to decide on the legalise of ‘exceptional circumstances’ justifying to have break.
Today is a key moment in UK politics, for the signal it sends imminent incoming Labour government and other silent remainers - having two stabs at it, the Tories still accept ECJ having the final say. This can be extended. And extended. And extended. salami tactics.
One of the big EU wins in this negotiation is it’s written in the agreement that th Truss Bill, a planned law to override some post-Brexit trade rules, gets binned.
1) 1700 pages of EU law disapplied, with most trade rules coming from the UK legal side (including food safety), so ECJ presence seems pretty limited
2) UK VAT and excise rates and calculations apply, not Irish or EU ones
3) Free GB-NI trade for medicines, medical products, agriculture, construction goods, steel. UK regulation, not EU, on food, jewellery, clothes and medicines applies
4) Data sharing based on existing data collection, so no additional bureaucratic burden for small businesses
5) Stormont break only applies to NEW EU laws - but can be used just by a minority at Stormont AND challenges to it will not be decided by ECJ, but an independent body.
6) Stormont break requires the block by Stormont AND a UK government veto
7) New legal commitment on both UK and EU to protect UK internal market
8) GB-NI trade will be based on UK commercial regulation, not international customs.
Overall I would say this is more like 3-0 for the UK position than 3-1. But both sides win from the deal.
It's just as advertised and, arguably, even better - a fundamental and radical rewrite of the whole NI protocol.
Also, I note that it effectively introduces a new digital border between NI and Eire to monitor north-south movement to compensate, which is a massive concession and something I'd jump on if I were the DUP.
It also sets the precedent of digital borders between the UK and EU, which could be used to reduce trade barriers elsewhere in future. AND the UK can still sign trade deals elsewhere and filter immigration.
Rishi has played a blinder.
Short of agreeing a bit of choreography where the whole EU Commission came into Whitehall and went down on both knees in front of the British government, crying and begging for mercy, whilst the national anthem was played on loudspeaker and a list of famous British military victories read aloud to them accompanied by the Life Guards shouting "Huzzah!" I don't see how how he could have done any better.
True, but the really sad thing is that we didn’t need to elect a tactical genius to achieve all this, but simply to stop electing childish tw*ts who only saw the EU as a straw person to be insulted whenever it suited for personal or political advantage.
The EU were being childish tw*ts as well.
Precisely this sort of deal was being proposed by several of us years ago and it was poo-poohed and lampooned by UTOA Remainers on here as cakeism and fantasy.
They're not laughing now.
FPT - we are, mind. This is just one step back towards the single market. Tick tock.
But a market union with single customs... All that would be needed is a suitable name. If Brussels could swallow calling it the Waterloo Concession, even the Spectator's top commentator might get on board.
1) 1700 pages of EU law disapplied, with most trade rules coming from the UK legal side (including food safety), so ECJ presence seems pretty limited
2) UK VAT and excise rates and calculations apply, not Irish or EU ones
3) Free GB-NI trade for medicines, medical products, agriculture, construction goods, steel. UK regulation, not EU, on food, jewellery, clothes and medicines applies
4) Data sharing based on existing data collection, so no additional bureaucratic burden for small businesses
5) Stormont break only applies to NEW EU laws - but can be used just by a minority at Stormont AND challenges to it will not be decided by ECJ, but an independent body.
6) Stormont break requires the block by Stormont AND a UK government veto
7) New legal commitment on both UK and EU to protect UK internal market
8) GB-NI trade will be based on UK commercial regulation, not international customs.
Overall I would say this is more like 3-0 for the UK position than 3-1. But both sides win from the deal.
It's just as advertised and, arguably, even better - a fundamental and radical rewrite of the whole NI protocol.
Also, I note that it effectively introduces a new digital border between NI and Eire to monitor north-south movement to compensate, which is a massive concession and something I'd jump on if I were the DUP.
It also sets the precedent of digital borders between the UK and EU, which could be used to reduce trade barriers elsewhere in future. AND the UK can still sign trade deals elsewhere and filter immigration.
Rishi has played a blinder.
Short of agreeing a bit of choreography where the whole EU Commission came into Whitehall and went down on both knees in front of the British government, crying and begging for mercy, whilst the national anthem was played on loudspeaker and a list of famous British military victories read aloud to them accompanied by the Life Guards shouting "Huzzah!" I don't see how how he could have done any better.
True, but the really sad thing is that we didn’t need to elect a tactical genius to achieve all this, but simply to stop electing childish tw*ts who only saw the EU as a straw person to be insulted whenever it suited for personal or political advantage.
The EU were being childish tw*ts as well.
Precisely this sort of deal was being proposed by several of us years ago and it was poo-poohed and lampooned by UTOA Remainers on here as cakeism and fantasy.
They're not laughing now.
They're all saying this was always possible and the EU have been offering this deal for years despite having lived through the last 5 years. Gaslighting the event for them.
A good day for Mr Sunak. He needs to use his better relationship with the EU to get a better GB deal with the EU and a decent deal with the USA. They were off the table before today. If he can do that then he can hope that in time it will improve the economy and subsequently feed through to the people.
Do all that and he will feel a lasting political benefit. But its a start and if he gets similarly practical on the pay disputes, etc, then who knows.
By the end of the year I think the Labour lead will often be inside ten points in the polls with a history. At that point a narrow Tory win will get spoken about.
1) 1700 pages of EU law disapplied, with most trade rules coming from the UK legal side (including food safety), so ECJ presence seems pretty limited
2) UK VAT and excise rates and calculations apply, not Irish or EU ones
3) Free GB-NI trade for medicines, medical products, agriculture, construction goods, steel. UK regulation, not EU, on food, jewellery, clothes and medicines applies
4) Data sharing based on existing data collection, so no additional bureaucratic burden for small businesses
5) Stormont break only applies to NEW EU laws - but can be used just by a minority at Stormont AND challenges to it will not be decided by ECJ, but an independent body.
6) Stormont break requires the block by Stormont AND a UK government veto
7) New legal commitment on both UK and EU to protect UK internal market
8) GB-NI trade will be based on UK commercial regulation, not international customs.
Overall I would say this is more like 3-0 for the UK position than 3-1. But both sides win from the deal.
It's just as advertised and, arguably, even better - a fundamental and radical rewrite of the whole NI protocol.
Also, I note that it effectively introduces a new digital border between NI and Eire to monitor north-south movement to compensate, which is a massive concession and something I'd jump on if I were the DUP.
It also sets the precedent of digital borders between the UK and EU, which could be used to reduce trade barriers elsewhere in future. AND the UK can still sign trade deals elsewhere and filter immigration.
Rishi has played a blinder.
Short of agreeing a bit of choreography where the whole EU Commission came into Whitehall and went down on both knees in front of the British government, crying and begging for mercy, whilst the national anthem was played on loudspeaker and a list of famous British military victories read aloud to them accompanied by the Life Guards shouting "Huzzah!" I don't see how how he could have done any better.
True, but the really sad thing is that we didn’t need to elect a tactical genius to achieve all this, but simply to stop electing childish tw*ts who only saw the EU as a straw person to be insulted whenever it suited for personal or political advantage.
The EU were being childish tw*ts as well.
Precisely this sort of deal was being proposed by several of us years ago and it was poo-poohed and lampooned by UTOA Remainers on here as cakeism and fantasy.
They're not laughing now.
FPT - we are, mind. This is just one step back towards the single market. Tick tock.
I was being genuine. It's only a matter of time as far as I'm concerned. There has been no discernible benefit of Brexit and people are starting to wake up to that.
1) 1700 pages of EU law disapplied, with most trade rules coming from the UK legal side (including food safety), so ECJ presence seems pretty limited
2) UK VAT and excise rates and calculations apply, not Irish or EU ones
3) Free GB-NI trade for medicines, medical products, agriculture, construction goods, steel. UK regulation, not EU, on food, jewellery, clothes and medicines applies
4) Data sharing based on existing data collection, so no additional bureaucratic burden for small businesses
5) Stormont break only applies to NEW EU laws - but can be used just by a minority at Stormont AND challenges to it will not be decided by ECJ, but an independent body.
6) Stormont break requires the block by Stormont AND a UK government veto
7) New legal commitment on both UK and EU to protect UK internal market
8) GB-NI trade will be based on UK commercial regulation, not international customs.
Overall I would say this is more like 3-0 for the UK position than 3-1. But both sides win from the deal.
It's just as advertised and, arguably, even better - a fundamental and radical rewrite of the whole NI protocol.
Also, I note that it effectively introduces a new digital border between NI and Eire to monitor north-south movement to compensate, which is a massive concession and something I'd jump on if I were the DUP.
It also sets the precedent of digital borders between the UK and EU, which could be used to reduce trade barriers elsewhere in future. AND the UK can still sign trade deals elsewhere and filter immigration.
Rishi has played a blinder.
Short of agreeing a bit of choreography where the whole EU Commission came into Whitehall and went down on both knees in front of the British government, crying and begging for mercy, whilst the national anthem was played on loudspeaker and a list of famous British military victories read aloud to them accompanied by the Life Guards shouting "Huzzah!" I don't see how how he could have done any better.
True, but the really sad thing is that we didn’t need to elect a tactical genius to achieve all this, but simply to stop electing childish tw*ts who only saw the EU as a straw person to be insulted whenever it suited for personal or political advantage.
The EU were being childish tw*ts as well.
Precisely this sort of deal was being proposed by several of us years ago and it was poo-poohed and lampooned by UTOA Remainers on here as cakeism and fantasy.
They're not laughing now.
FPT - we are, mind. This is just one step back towards the single market. Tick tock.
Three big wins coming out so far. Things the EU previously said were impossible.
1) A green lane with no checks for anything going to Northern Ireland
2) Availability of all GB foods, agriculture and medicine to Northern Ireland
3) A break from Stormont on EU laws (this could get downgraded to half a win depending on whether it only applies to new laws)
Then one potential win for the EU, unclear its size until more comes out:
1) Some EU law applying in NI, with ECJ decision maker.
We need to find out more, but right now seems like a 3-1 win for the UK.
1, 2 and a somewhat limited 3 were proposed by Maros Sefcovic back in 2021 following his discussions with Northern Ireland business and politicians. These proposals were subsequently rejected by Johnson, Truss and Frost. It's possible the new proposals are significantly different in the detail from Sefcovic's originals. On the whole it looks like Sunak's main work has been in getting his government on board.
That is halfway to the Sunak deal. Even the headline on agrifood applies to only 80%, rather than 100% of it. And the democratic check is additional consultation, rather than the unionist party at Stormont able to apply a hard brake.
AIUI the brake happens if Stormont votes for it. ie it will in practice need cross community consent and Sinn Fein and DUP to vote for it.
No, just needs 30 votes at Stormont and UK government agreement to block a new law.
Aren't the 30 votes to force a cross community vote rather a straight majority at Stormont?
Three big wins coming out so far. Things the EU previously said were impossible.
1) A green lane with no checks for anything going to Northern Ireland
2) Availability of all GB foods, agriculture and medicine to Northern Ireland
3) A break from Stormont on EU laws (this could get downgraded to half a win depending on whether it only applies to new laws)
Then one potential win for the EU, unclear its size until more comes out:
1) Some EU law applying in NI, with ECJ decision maker.
We need to find out more, but right now seems like a 3-1 win for the UK.
1, 2 and a somewhat limited 3 were proposed by Maros Sefcovic back in 2021 following his discussions with Northern Ireland business and politicians. These proposals were subsequently rejected by Johnson, Truss and Frost. It's possible the new proposals are significantly different in the detail from Sefcovic's originals. On the whole it looks like Sunak's main work has been in getting his government on board.
That is halfway to the Sunak deal. Even the headline on agrifood applies to only 80%, rather than 100% of it. And the democratic check is additional consultation, rather than the unionist party at Stormont able to apply a hard brake.
AIUI the brake happens if Stormont votes for it. ie it will in practice need cross community consent and Sinn Fein and DUP to vote for it.
No, just needs 30 votes at Stormont and UK government agreement to block a new law.
Aren't the 30 votes to force a cross community vote rather a straight majority at Stormont?
No. It's a "petition of concern". Effectively a veto.
I don't think we'll rejoin mind, but I reckon we'll end up back in the Single Market. There has been no benefit in being outside the Single Market.
To pick an example, the forthcoming India FTA will reduce tariffs on Scotch from 150% to 50%. The Scotch Whisky Association reckons it might add 15% to total production of Scotch Whisky within 5 years. Rejoining the Single Market / CU throws this away.
You can argue the drawbacks outweigh the benefits, but to pretend there aren't any benefits is silly.
I don't think we'll rejoin mind, but I reckon we'll end up back in the Single Market. There has been no benefit in being outside the Single Market.
To pick an example, the forthcoming India FTA will reduce tariffs on Scotch from 150% to 50%. The Scotch Whisky Association reckons it might add 15% to total production of Scotch Whisky within 5 years. Rejoining the Single Market / CU throws this away.
You can argue the drawbacks outweigh the benefits, but to pretend there aren't any benefits is silly.
If I thought you seriously believed we’d ever rejoin (as opposed to you just being provocative) I’d invest the time in showing why it’s off the table. But you don’t.
Incrementalism.
We’ll keep on getting closer alignment.
To quote a Leaver friend is today closer to our EU membership than yesterday?
Three big wins coming out so far. Things the EU previously said were impossible.
1) A green lane with no checks for anything going to Northern Ireland
2) Availability of all GB foods, agriculture and medicine to Northern Ireland
3) A break from Stormont on EU laws (this could get downgraded to half a win depending on whether it only applies to new laws)
Then one potential win for the EU, unclear its size until more comes out:
1) Some EU law applying in NI, with ECJ decision maker.
We need to find out more, but right now seems like a 3-1 win for the UK.
1, 2 and a somewhat limited 3 were proposed by Maros Sefcovic back in 2021 following his discussions with Northern Ireland business and politicians. These proposals were subsequently rejected by Johnson, Truss and Frost. It's possible the new proposals are significantly different in the detail from Sefcovic's originals. On the whole it looks like Sunak's main work has been in getting his government on board.
That is halfway to the Sunak deal. Even the headline on agrifood applies to only 80%, rather than 100% of it. And the democratic check is additional consultation, rather than the unionist party at Stormont able to apply a hard brake.
AIUI the brake happens if Stormont votes for it. ie it will in practice need cross community consent and Sinn Fein and DUP to vote for it.
No, just needs 30 votes at Stormont and UK government agreement to block a new law.
Aren't the 30 votes to force a cross community vote rather a straight majority at Stormont?
No. It's a "petition of concern". Effectively a veto.
No it’s not a veto. A veto stops something. This merely asks others (courts) to interpret the agreement text that you have exceptional circumstances to stop something. That’s a very different thing than a veto. 😁
It's always easier to make a deal, reach an agreement or achieve a compromise when both sides want it and indeed need it to happen. Some on here are talking about the UK "winning" as though this was a battle of wills but in truth I suspect the atmosphere in which the negotiations occurred was far more conducive than was the case in preceding years.
That's not to underestimate the work that has gone on, largely unannounced, behind the scenes and it's the UK and EU officials who deserve most of the credit. I'm sure both the UK and EU have compromised on issues and that's the point of negotiation.
I also suspect both sides saw the truth of the complex situation in which they found themselves and used pragmatic compromise allied with technological advances to achieve a deal which satisfies both and indeed makes life easier for all including the people and businesses of Northern Ireland.
It's a deal to be welcomed but not as though we've won a war or a test match - this is practical Government business accomplished by pragmatic individuals on both sides. I think it plays to the Prime MInister's personal strengths in terms of detail nd he deserves credit for it s does Ursula van Leyen and the EU because it does take two to tango.
If I thought you seriously believed we’d ever rejoin (as opposed to you just being provocative) I’d invest the time in showing why it’s off the table. But you don’t.
Incrementalism.
We’ll keep on getting closer alignment.
To quote a Leaver friend is today closer to our EU membership than yesterday?
No it isn’t, it’s further away than under the protocol. Bad example.
What people like you forget is that the EU hasn’t been frozen and won’t remain frozen. As the years pass by, integration into the single market will get harder and harder, and more and more disruptive.
If I thought you seriously believed we’d ever rejoin (as opposed to you just being provocative) I’d invest the time in showing why it’s off the table. But you don’t.
Incrementalism.
We’ll keep on getting closer alignment.
To quote a Leaver friend is today closer to our EU membership than yesterday?
No it isn’t, it’s further away than under the protocol. Bad example.
What people like you forget is that the EU hasn’t been frozen and won’t remain frozen. As the years pass by, integration into the single market will get harder and harder, and more and more disruptive.
The dream of serious divergence just isn't going to happen.
Three big wins coming out so far. Things the EU previously said were impossible.
1) A green lane with no checks for anything going to Northern Ireland
2) Availability of all GB foods, agriculture and medicine to Northern Ireland
3) A break from Stormont on EU laws (this could get downgraded to half a win depending on whether it only applies to new laws)
Then one potential win for the EU, unclear its size until more comes out:
1) Some EU law applying in NI, with ECJ decision maker.
We need to find out more, but right now seems like a 3-1 win for the UK.
1, 2 and a somewhat limited 3 were proposed by Maros Sefcovic back in 2021 following his discussions with Northern Ireland business and politicians. These proposals were subsequently rejected by Johnson, Truss and Frost. It's possible the new proposals are significantly different in the detail from Sefcovic's originals. On the whole it looks like Sunak's main work has been in getting his government on board.
That is halfway to the Sunak deal. Even the headline on agrifood applies to only 80%, rather than 100% of it. And the democratic check is additional consultation, rather than the unionist party at Stormont able to apply a hard brake.
AIUI the brake happens if Stormont votes for it. ie it will in practice need cross community consent and Sinn Fein and DUP to vote for it.
No, just needs 30 votes at Stormont and UK government agreement to block a new law.
Aren't the 30 votes to force a cross community vote rather a straight majority at Stormont?
No. It's a "petition of concern". Effectively a veto.
No it’s not a veto. A veto stops something. This merely asks others (courts) to interpret the agreement text that you have exceptional circumstances to stop something. That’s a very different thing than a veto. 😁
I don't think we'll rejoin mind, but I reckon we'll end up back in the Single Market. There has been no benefit in being outside the Single Market.
To pick an example, the forthcoming India FTA will reduce tariffs on Scotch from 150% to 50%. The Scotch Whisky Association reckons it might add 15% to total production of Scotch Whisky within 5 years. Rejoining the Single Market / CU throws this away.
You can argue the drawbacks outweigh the benefits, but to pretend there aren't any benefits is silly.
I was talking on a macro level.
Well, on a macro level no law can now be passed against the will of the British Parliament. You might say few ever were, but they could have been. Now they cannot.
You may not care but that’s a solid benefit to those who do.
I don't think we'll rejoin mind, but I reckon we'll end up back in the Single Market. There has been no benefit in being outside the Single Market.
To pick an example, the forthcoming India FTA will reduce tariffs on Scotch from 150% to 50%. The Scotch Whisky Association reckons it might add 15% to total production of Scotch Whisky within 5 years. Rejoining the Single Market / CU throws this away.
You can argue the drawbacks outweigh the benefits, but to pretend there aren't any benefits is silly.
I was talking on a macro level.
Well, on a macro level no law can now be passed against the will of the British Parliament. You might say few ever were, but they could have been. Now they cannot.
You may not care but that’s a solid benefit to those who do.
Nah, it isn't. That's middle-class privilege stuff.
1) 1700 pages of EU law disapplied, with most trade rules coming from the UK legal side (including food safety), so ECJ presence seems pretty limited
2) UK VAT and excise rates and calculations apply, not Irish or EU ones
3) Free GB-NI trade for medicines, medical products, agriculture, construction goods, steel. UK regulation, not EU, on food, jewellery, clothes and medicines applies
4) Data sharing based on existing data collection, so no additional bureaucratic burden for small businesses
5) Stormont break only applies to NEW EU laws - but can be used just by a minority at Stormont AND challenges to it will not be decided by ECJ, but an independent body.
6) Stormont break requires the block by Stormont AND a UK government veto
7) New legal commitment on both UK and EU to protect UK internal market
8) GB-NI trade will be based on UK commercial regulation, not international customs.
Overall I would say this is more like 3-0 for the UK position than 3-1. But both sides win from the deal.
It's just as advertised and, arguably, even better - a fundamental and radical rewrite of the whole NI protocol.
Also, I note that it effectively introduces a new digital border between NI and Eire to monitor north-south movement to compensate, which is a massive concession and something I'd jump on if I were the DUP.
It also sets the precedent of digital borders between the UK and EU, which could be used to reduce trade barriers elsewhere in future. AND the UK can still sign trade deals elsewhere and filter immigration.
Rishi has played a blinder.
Short of agreeing a bit of choreography where the whole EU Commission came into Whitehall and went down on both knees in front of the British government, crying and begging for mercy, whilst the national anthem was played on loudspeaker and a list of famous British military victories read aloud to them accompanied by the Life Guards shouting "Huzzah!" I don't see how how he could have done any better.
True, but the really sad thing is that we didn’t need to elect a tactical genius to achieve all this, but simply to stop electing childish tw*ts who only saw the EU as a straw person to be insulted whenever it suited for personal or political advantage.
The EU were being childish tw*ts as well.
Precisely this sort of deal was being proposed by several of us years ago and it was poo-poohed and lampooned by UTOA Remainers on here as cakeism and fantasy.
They're not laughing now.
FPT - we are, mind. This is just one step back towards the single market. Tick tock.
If I thought you seriously believed we’d ever rejoin (as opposed to you just being provocative) I’d invest the time in showing why it’s off the table. But you don’t.
Incrementalism.
We’ll keep on getting closer alignment.
To quote a Leaver friend is today closer to our EU membership than yesterday?
No it isn’t, it’s further away than under the protocol. Bad example.
What people like you forget is that the EU hasn’t been frozen and won’t remain frozen. As the years pass by, integration into the single market will get harder and harder, and more and more disruptive.
The dream of serious divergence just isn't going to happen.
Have you worked with the EU? I’ve lost track of the directives and regulations in the pipeline because it no longer matters; but for one things I’d assume there’s going to be a Mifid 3. Without us in the room, that will loek reintroduce a concentration rule by default amongst other things. That’s massive.
If I thought you seriously believed we’d ever rejoin (as opposed to you just being provocative) I’d invest the time in showing why it’s off the table. But you don’t.
Incrementalism.
We’ll keep on getting closer alignment.
To quote a Leaver friend is today closer to our EU membership than yesterday?
No it isn’t, it’s further away than under the protocol. Bad example.
What people like you forget is that the EU hasn’t been frozen and won’t remain frozen. As the years pass by, integration into the single market will get harder and harder, and more and more disruptive.
The dream of serious divergence just isn't going to happen.
Have you worked with the EU? I’ve lost track of the directives and regulations in the pipeline because it no longer matters; but for one things I’d assume there’s going to be a Mifid 3. Without us in the room, that will loek reintroduce a concentration rule by default amongst other things. That’s massive.
See also digital and data standards.
Physical products? Very little difference.
The directives and regulations we would have passed versions of anyway. Like I said, the dream of serious divergence is not going to happen because it would be ridiculously unpopular.
1) 1700 pages of EU law disapplied, with most trade rules coming from the UK legal side (including food safety), so ECJ presence seems pretty limited
2) UK VAT and excise rates and calculations apply, not Irish or EU ones
3) Free GB-NI trade for medicines, medical products, agriculture, construction goods, steel. UK regulation, not EU, on food, jewellery, clothes and medicines applies
4) Data sharing based on existing data collection, so no additional bureaucratic burden for small businesses
5) Stormont break only applies to NEW EU laws - but can be used just by a minority at Stormont AND challenges to it will not be decided by ECJ, but an independent body.
6) Stormont break requires the block by Stormont AND a UK government veto
7) New legal commitment on both UK and EU to protect UK internal market
8) GB-NI trade will be based on UK commercial regulation, not international customs.
Overall I would say this is more like 3-0 for the UK position than 3-1. But both sides win from the deal.
It's just as advertised and, arguably, even better - a fundamental and radical rewrite of the whole NI protocol.
Also, I note that it effectively introduces a new digital border between NI and Eire to monitor north-south movement to compensate, which is a massive concession and something I'd jump on if I were the DUP.
It also sets the precedent of digital borders between the UK and EU, which could be used to reduce trade barriers elsewhere in future. AND the UK can still sign trade deals elsewhere and filter immigration.
Rishi has played a blinder.
Short of agreeing a bit of choreography where the whole EU Commission came into Whitehall and went down on both knees in front of the British government, crying and begging for mercy, whilst the national anthem was played on loudspeaker and a list of famous British military victories read aloud to them accompanied by the Life Guards shouting "Huzzah!" I don't see how how he could have done any better.
True, but the really sad thing is that we didn’t need to elect a tactical genius to achieve all this, but simply to stop electing childish tw*ts who only saw the EU as a straw person to be insulted whenever it suited for personal or political advantage.
The EU were being childish tw*ts as well.
Precisely this sort of deal was being proposed by several of us years ago and it was poo-poohed and lampooned by UTOA Remainers on here as cakeism and fantasy.
They're not laughing now.
FPT - we are, mind. This is just one step back towards the single market. Tick tock.
I was being genuine. It's only a matter of time as far as I'm concerned. There has been no discernible benefit of Brexit and people are starting to wake up to that.
It's all damage limitation isn't it. Sunak's done great here but the deal is just a step towards the dream of 'best of a bad job' Brexit. Don't know how the public will see it over time. I hope we are ambitious enough to want better but we might just shrug and worry about other things.
Three big wins coming out so far. Things the EU previously said were impossible.
1) A green lane with no checks for anything going to Northern Ireland
2) Availability of all GB foods, agriculture and medicine to Northern Ireland
3) A break from Stormont on EU laws (this could get downgraded to half a win depending on whether it only applies to new laws)
Then one potential win for the EU, unclear its size until more comes out:
1) Some EU law applying in NI, with ECJ decision maker.
We need to find out more, but right now seems like a 3-1 win for the UK.
1, 2 and a somewhat limited 3 were proposed by Maros Sefcovic back in 2021 following his discussions with Northern Ireland business and politicians. These proposals were subsequently rejected by Johnson, Truss and Frost. It's possible the new proposals are significantly different in the detail from Sefcovic's originals. On the whole it looks like Sunak's main work has been in getting his government on board.
That is halfway to the Sunak deal. Even the headline on agrifood applies to only 80%, rather than 100% of it. And the democratic check is additional consultation, rather than the unionist party at Stormont able to apply a hard brake.
AIUI the brake happens if Stormont votes for it. ie it will in practice need cross community consent and Sinn Fein and DUP to vote for it.
No, just needs 30 votes at Stormont and UK government agreement to block a new law.
Aren't the 30 votes to force a cross community vote rather a straight majority at Stormont?
No. It's a "petition of concern". Effectively a veto.
No it’s not a veto. A veto stops something. This merely asks others (courts) to interpret the agreement text that you have exceptional circumstances to stop something. That’s a very different thing than a veto. 😁
As it’s written in this agreements text it’s not. 🙂. You are utterly wrong, probably hoodwinked by what a politician has said at some point. The agreement clearly says the 30 votes merely to say we have an exceptional concern - courts, ultimately ECJ them decide if you do or don’t have an exceptional concern or break clause.
Pre Windsor, ECJ final arbitrator and border in Irish Sea - post Windsor ECJ final arbitrator and border in Irish Sea. Nothing has changed in terms of the points of principle.
Except. Firstly, It does tidy up where issues with the previous agreement have been flagged up and accepted. This is mainly around movement of pets plants and parcels.
Secondly - and this is probably the point of most contention - the EU have it written in the agreement that the Truss Bill, a planned law to override some post-Brexit trade rules, gets binned. So as a DUP or ERG you have to be really sure Windsor Deal does tidy up your own issues with this, before binning that legislation taking you backwards on that approach.
Sunak talking about the privileged position NI has with its access to the EU single market !
You mean the one the UK used to have !
Honestly, how many people are going to point this this line it’s a “gotcha” moment? If the EU offered us completely barrier free trade if we just obeyed its laws on exports to the EU, we’d bite its hand off. That’s what NI has, and we don’t. Though the difference is marginal.
If I thought you seriously believed we’d ever rejoin (as opposed to you just being provocative) I’d invest the time in showing why it’s off the table. But you don’t.
Incrementalism.
We’ll keep on getting closer alignment.
To quote a Leaver friend is today closer to our EU membership than yesterday?
No, the EU have just made Brexit work better and in our favour. It's a fuller extension of practical British sovereignty into NI.
If I thought you seriously believed we’d ever rejoin (as opposed to you just being provocative) I’d invest the time in showing why it’s off the table. But you don’t.
Incrementalism.
We’ll keep on getting closer alignment.
To quote a Leaver friend is today closer to our EU membership than yesterday?
I'd say it's the opposite, the theory was that eventually NI would force the UK back into the single market and customs union because no other option was available without a long term trade war with the EU. That's now off the table forever. It removes a huge bit of business uncertainty as well not just in NI but for the whole country. Rejoin died today IMO, NI was the last chance for dynamic alignment with the EU at which point it would have made sense for the UK to just rejoin because we'd have to adopt all EU rules anyway.
Yousaf: Not at all politically savy. Widely disliked. Extremely long list of screwups. Broadly capable of keeping the SNP in its' current left wing authoritarian position and not fracturing the party too much.
Forbes: Popular with the public, and broadly in-line with the Scottish public despite being significantly more religious on some aspects. Completely at odds with its' recent activist and active support base. Would fracture the party.
Regan: Nobody knows her. Wants to air Sturgeon's dirty laundry. Indy nutter. Also unlikely to keep the party together.
If we assume Yousaf won't win because of him being the last choice for the other two's voters, where does this create opportunities in the next GE? Will SGreens start standing against the SNP? If so a major SLAB recovery in Glasgow is likely. Secondly, how tactical will SIndy voters be? If there's a major left and right wing Independence party, will Unionists or the Leavers be more likely to vote tactically?
Feels like once again there'll be a lot of betting value in Scotland for people who read polls not vibes.
Good heavens, not only is Sunak driving a stake through the heart of the NI Protocol bill, he’s wreathing it in garlic and burying it at a cross roads.
In amongst all this, of course, there is a big win for the EU in that Boris is diminished, thereby discouraging any EuroBorises who may be tempted to go down the same route.
If I thought you seriously believed we’d ever rejoin (as opposed to you just being provocative) I’d invest the time in showing why it’s off the table. But you don’t.
Incrementalism.
We’ll keep on getting closer alignment.
To quote a Leaver friend is today closer to our EU membership than yesterday?
No it isn’t, it’s further away than under the protocol. Bad example.
What people like you forget is that the EU hasn’t been frozen and won’t remain frozen. As the years pass by, integration into the single market will get harder and harder, and more and more disruptive.
The dream of serious divergence just isn't going to happen.
Have you worked with the EU? I’ve lost track of the directives and regulations in the pipeline because it no longer matters; but for one things I’d assume there’s going to be a Mifid 3. Without us in the room, that will loek reintroduce a concentration rule by default amongst other things. That’s massive.
See also digital and data standards.
Physical products? Very little difference.
The directives and regulations we would have passed versions of anyway. Like I said, the dream of serious divergence is not going to happen because it would be ridiculously unpopular.
We won’t be passing anything like what the EU will pass on financial services without us in the room. We will diverge.
I have to say Sunak is demolitioning Johnson's ludicrous NIP
Indeed it is astonishing just how awful it was
It was an appalling “deal” that put huge pressure on trade between Northern Ireland and the Mainland, and which surrendered sovereignty in several key areas.
1) 1700 pages of EU law disapplied, with most trade rules coming from the UK legal side (including food safety), so ECJ presence seems pretty limited
2) UK VAT and excise rates and calculations apply, not Irish or EU ones
3) Free GB-NI trade for medicines, medical products, agriculture, construction goods, steel. UK regulation, not EU, on food, jewellery, clothes and medicines applies
4) Data sharing based on existing data collection, so no additional bureaucratic burden for small businesses
5) Stormont break only applies to NEW EU laws - but can be used just by a minority at Stormont AND challenges to it will not be decided by ECJ, but an independent body.
6) Stormont break requires the block by Stormont AND a UK government veto
7) New legal commitment on both UK and EU to protect UK internal market
8) GB-NI trade will be based on UK commercial regulation, not international customs.
Overall I would say this is more like 3-0 for the UK position than 3-1. But both sides win from the deal.
It's just as advertised and, arguably, even better - a fundamental and radical rewrite of the whole NI protocol.
Also, I note that it effectively introduces a new digital border between NI and Eire to monitor north-south movement to compensate, which is a massive concession and something I'd jump on if I were the DUP.
It also sets the precedent of digital borders between the UK and EU, which could be used to reduce trade barriers elsewhere in future. AND the UK can still sign trade deals elsewhere and filter immigration.
Rishi has played a blinder.
Short of agreeing a bit of choreography where the whole EU Commission came into Whitehall and went down on both knees in front of the British government, crying and begging for mercy, whilst the national anthem was played on loudspeaker and a list of famous British military victories read aloud to them accompanied by the Life Guards shouting "Huzzah!" I don't see how how he could have done any better.
True, but the really sad thing is that we didn’t need to elect a tactical genius to achieve all this, but simply to stop electing childish tw*ts who only saw the EU as a straw person to be insulted whenever it suited for personal or political advantage.
The EU were being childish tw*ts as well.
Precisely this sort of deal was being proposed by several of us years ago and it was poo-poohed and lampooned by UTOA Remainers on here as cakeism and fantasy.
They're not laughing now.
FPT - we are, mind. This is just one step back towards the single market. Tick tock.
I was being genuine. It's only a matter of time as far as I'm concerned. There has been no discernible benefit of Brexit and people are starting to wake up to that.
It's all damage limitation isn't it. Sunak's done great here but the deal is just a step towards the dream of 'best of a bad job' Brexit. Don't know how the public will see it over time. I hope we are ambitious enough to want better but we might just shrug and worry about other things.
Yes - while the immediate news story is grown-up Sunak achieving what childish Johnson could or would not - the bigger picture is that we are trying to limit the damage done by Brexit; there remains no sign of any significant upside.
Even Sunak can tell the Commons about the advantage NI gets from being at least partly inside the single market, without any sense of awareness or shame.
I don't think we'll rejoin mind, but I reckon we'll end up back in the Single Market. There has been no benefit in being outside the Single Market.
To pick an example, the forthcoming India FTA will reduce tariffs on Scotch from 150% to 50%. The Scotch Whisky Association reckons it might add 15% to total production of Scotch Whisky within 5 years. Rejoining the Single Market / CU throws this away.
You can argue the drawbacks outweigh the benefits, but to pretend there aren't any benefits is silly.
If it's a free trade agreement then the tariff should really be zero.
I have to say Sunak is demolitioning Johnson's ludicrous NIP
Indeed it is astonishing just how awful it was
It was an appalling “deal” that put huge pressure on trade between Northern Ireland and the Mainland, and which surrendered sovereignty in several key areas.
Johnson and Frost were utter charlatans.
And yet it paved the way for today's deal. Without that stepping stone this would never happened.
If I thought you seriously believed we’d ever rejoin (as opposed to you just being provocative) I’d invest the time in showing why it’s off the table. But you don’t.
Incrementalism.
We’ll keep on getting closer alignment.
To quote a Leaver friend is today closer to our EU membership than yesterday?
No it isn’t, it’s further away than under the protocol. Bad example.
What people like you forget is that the EU hasn’t been frozen and won’t remain frozen. As the years pass by, integration into the single market will get harder and harder, and more and more disruptive.
The dream of serious divergence just isn't going to happen.
Have you worked with the EU? I’ve lost track of the directives and regulations in the pipeline because it no longer matters; but for one things I’d assume there’s going to be a Mifid 3. Without us in the room, that will loek reintroduce a concentration rule by default amongst other things. That’s massive.
See also digital and data standards.
Physical products? Very little difference.
The directives and regulations we would have passed versions of anyway. Like I said, the dream of serious divergence is not going to happen because it would be ridiculously unpopular.
We won’t be passing anything like what the EU will pass on financial services without us in the room. We will diverge.
If I thought you seriously believed we’d ever rejoin (as opposed to you just being provocative) I’d invest the time in showing why it’s off the table. But you don’t.
Incrementalism.
We’ll keep on getting closer alignment.
To quote a Leaver friend is today closer to our EU membership than yesterday?
I'd say it's the opposite, the theory was that eventually NI would force the UK back into the single market and customs union because no other option was available without a long term trade war with the EU. That's now off the table forever. It removes a huge bit of business uncertainty as well not just in NI but for the whole country. Rejoin died today IMO, NI was the last chance for dynamic alignment with the EU at which point it would have made sense for the UK to just rejoin because we'd have to adopt all EU rules anyway.
Dynamics alignment with the EU is still possible - as soon as we discover how costly our insistence on paperwork is to both our trade with the EU and their trade with us.
Yousaf: Not at all politically savy. Widely disliked. Extremely long list of screwups. Broadly capable of keeping the SNP in its' current left wing authoritarian position and not fracturing the party too much.
Forbes: Popular with the public, and broadly in-line with the Scottish public despite being significantly more religious on some aspects. Completely at odds with its' recent activist and active support base. Would fracture the party.
Regan: Nobody knows her. Wants to air Sturgeon's dirty laundry. Indy nutter. Also unlikely to keep the party together.
If we assume Yousaf won't win because of him being the last choice for the other two's voters, where does this create opportunities in the next GE? Will SGreens start standing against the SNP? If so a major SLAB recovery in Glasgow is likely. Secondly, how tactical will SIndy voters be? If there's a major left and right wing Independence party, will Unionists or the Leavers be more likely to vote tactically?
Feels like once again there'll be a lot of betting value in Scotland for people who read polls not vibes.
I'm desperate for Yousaf to win (even though my book isn't) for those reasons.
If I thought you seriously believed we’d ever rejoin (as opposed to you just being provocative) I’d invest the time in showing why it’s off the table. But you don’t.
Incrementalism.
We’ll keep on getting closer alignment.
To quote a Leaver friend is today closer to our EU membership than yesterday?
I'd say it's the opposite, the theory was that eventually NI would force the UK back into the single market and customs union because no other option was available without a long term trade war with the EU. That's now off the table forever. It removes a huge bit of business uncertainty as well not just in NI but for the whole country. Rejoin died today IMO, NI was the last chance for dynamic alignment with the EU at which point it would have made sense for the UK to just rejoin because we'd have to adopt all EU rules anyway.
I don’t see why people think this is bad for Boris. It vindicates blowing up Theresa May’s withdrawal agreement and wouldn’t have been possible without him.
I have to say Sunak is demolitioning Johnson's ludicrous NIP
Indeed it is astonishing just how awful it was
It was an appalling “deal” that put huge pressure on trade between Northern Ireland and the Mainland, and which surrendered sovereignty in several key areas.
Johnson and Frost were utter charlatans.
He only did it because he needed to disagree with May’s deal - for personal career reasons - and then come up with something that wasn’t May’s deal and yet conceded nothing to the EU.
1) 1700 pages of EU law disapplied, with most trade rules coming from the UK legal side (including food safety), so ECJ presence seems pretty limited
2) UK VAT and excise rates and calculations apply, not Irish or EU ones
3) Free GB-NI trade for medicines, medical products, agriculture, construction goods, steel. UK regulation, not EU, on food, jewellery, clothes and medicines applies
4) Data sharing based on existing data collection, so no additional bureaucratic burden for small businesses
5) Stormont break only applies to NEW EU laws - but can be used just by a minority at Stormont AND challenges to it will not be decided by ECJ, but an independent body.
6) Stormont break requires the block by Stormont AND a UK government veto
7) New legal commitment on both UK and EU to protect UK internal market
8) GB-NI trade will be based on UK commercial regulation, not international customs.
Overall I would say this is more like 3-0 for the UK position than 3-1. But both sides win from the deal.
It's just as advertised and, arguably, even better - a fundamental and radical rewrite of the whole NI protocol.
Also, I note that it effectively introduces a new digital border between NI and Eire to monitor north-south movement to compensate, which is a massive concession and something I'd jump on if I were the DUP.
It also sets the precedent of digital borders between the UK and EU, which could be used to reduce trade barriers elsewhere in future. AND the UK can still sign trade deals elsewhere and filter immigration.
Rishi has played a blinder.
Short of agreeing a bit of choreography where the whole EU Commission came into Whitehall and went down on both knees in front of the British government, crying and begging for mercy, whilst the national anthem was played on loudspeaker and a list of famous British military victories read aloud to them accompanied by the Life Guards shouting "Huzzah!" I don't see how how he could have done any better.
True, but the really sad thing is that we didn’t need to elect a tactical genius to achieve all this, but simply to stop electing childish tw*ts who only saw the EU as a straw person to be insulted whenever it suited for personal or political advantage.
The EU were being childish tw*ts as well.
Precisely this sort of deal was being proposed by several of us years ago and it was poo-poohed and lampooned by UTOA Remainers on here as cakeism and fantasy.
They're not laughing now.
FPT - we are, mind. This is just one step back towards the single market. Tick tock.
I was being genuine. It's only a matter of time as far as I'm concerned. There has been no discernible benefit of Brexit and people are starting to wake up to that.
It's all damage limitation isn't it. Sunak's done great here but the deal is just a step towards the dream of 'best of a bad job' Brexit. Don't know how the public will see it over time. I hope we are ambitious enough to want better but we might just shrug and worry about other things.
Yes - while the immediate news story is grown-up Sunak achieving what childish Johnson could or would not - the bigger picture is that we are trying to limit the damage done by Brexit; there remains no sign of any significant upside.
Even Sunak can tell the Commons about the advantage NI gets from being at least partly inside the single market, without any sense of awareness or shame.
Excerpt that isn’t what he’s saying. He’s making the obvious point that being in both markets (for some things) is a good place for a small jurisdiction to be.
But you know that. You’re just being provocative and, foolishly, I’m being provoked.
1) 1700 pages of EU law disapplied, with most trade rules coming from the UK legal side (including food safety), so ECJ presence seems pretty limited
2) UK VAT and excise rates and calculations apply, not Irish or EU ones
3) Free GB-NI trade for medicines, medical products, agriculture, construction goods, steel. UK regulation, not EU, on food, jewellery, clothes and medicines applies
4) Data sharing based on existing data collection, so no additional bureaucratic burden for small businesses
5) Stormont break only applies to NEW EU laws - but can be used just by a minority at Stormont AND challenges to it will not be decided by ECJ, but an independent body.
6) Stormont break requires the block by Stormont AND a UK government veto
7) New legal commitment on both UK and EU to protect UK internal market
8) GB-NI trade will be based on UK commercial regulation, not international customs.
Overall I would say this is more like 3-0 for the UK position than 3-1. But both sides win from the deal.
It's just as advertised and, arguably, even better - a fundamental and radical rewrite of the whole NI protocol.
Also, I note that it effectively introduces a new digital border between NI and Eire to monitor north-south movement to compensate, which is a massive concession and something I'd jump on if I were the DUP.
It also sets the precedent of digital borders between the UK and EU, which could be used to reduce trade barriers elsewhere in future. AND the UK can still sign trade deals elsewhere and filter immigration.
Rishi has played a blinder.
Short of agreeing a bit of choreography where the whole EU Commission came into Whitehall and went down on both knees in front of the British government, crying and begging for mercy, whilst the national anthem was played on loudspeaker and a list of famous British military victories read aloud to them accompanied by the Life Guards shouting "Huzzah!" I don't see how how he could have done any better.
True, but the really sad thing is that we didn’t need to elect a tactical genius to achieve all this, but simply to stop electing childish tw*ts who only saw the EU as a straw person to be insulted whenever it suited for personal or political advantage.
The EU were being childish tw*ts as well.
Precisely this sort of deal was being proposed by several of us years ago and it was poo-poohed and lampooned by UTOA Remainers on here as cakeism and fantasy.
They're not laughing now.
FPT - we are, mind. This is just one step back towards the single market. Tick tock.
I was being genuine. It's only a matter of time as far as I'm concerned. There has been no discernible benefit of Brexit and people are starting to wake up to that.
It's all damage limitation isn't it. Sunak's done great here but the deal is just a step towards the dream of 'best of a bad job' Brexit. Don't know how the public will see it over time. I hope we are ambitious enough to want better but we might just shrug and worry about other things.
Yes - while the immediate news story is grown-up Sunak achieving what childish Johnson could or would not - the bigger picture is that we are trying to limit the damage done by Brexit; there remains no sign of any significant upside.
Even Sunak can tell the Commons about the advantage NI gets from being at least partly inside the single market, without any sense of awareness or shame.
The upside is signing new trade deals, of which the two big prizes are the US and the CPTPP. The US one just got a hell of a lot closer.
The second upside is restricting lower skilled migration. We have already cut out the lowest skill work migration, as you now need to earn 26k to move here. Of course, that is not far enough as 26k is too low a limit, and family migration remains exploited by arranged marriages bringing over uneducated spouses from rural Asia and Africa.
I have to say Sunak is demolitioning Johnson's ludicrous NIP
Indeed it is astonishing just how awful it was
It was an appalling “deal” that put huge pressure on trade between Northern Ireland and the Mainland, and which surrendered sovereignty in several key areas.
Johnson and Frost were utter charlatans.
And yet it paved the way for today's deal. Without that stepping stone this would never happened.
No. There was nothing very wrong with May’s deal. This whole psychotrauma was visited upon the UK in order to feed the ego ambition and ego of Boris Johnson.
It’s terrifying to consider how many billions of pounds of damage he caused.
Just like to point out that I said about 3 years ago that the Brexit deal meant a booming ulster. They get membership of both single markets and citizenship of both. Duhhhhh
I have to say Sunak is demolitioning Johnson's ludicrous NIP
Indeed it is astonishing just how awful it was
It was an appalling “deal” that put huge pressure on trade between Northern Ireland and the Mainland, and which surrendered sovereignty in several key areas.
Johnson and Frost were utter charlatans.
And yet it paved the way for today's deal. Without that stepping stone this would never happened.
In the same sense that war is a stepping stone to peace?
I don’t see why people think this is bad for Boris. It vindicates blowing up Theresa May’s withdrawal agreement and wouldn’t have been possible without him.
Indeed, under the May deal this agreement would never have happened.
1) 1700 pages of EU law disapplied, with most trade rules coming from the UK legal side (including food safety), so ECJ presence seems pretty limited
2) UK VAT and excise rates and calculations apply, not Irish or EU ones
3) Free GB-NI trade for medicines, medical products, agriculture, construction goods, steel. UK regulation, not EU, on food, jewellery, clothes and medicines applies
4) Data sharing based on existing data collection, so no additional bureaucratic burden for small businesses
5) Stormont break only applies to NEW EU laws - but can be used just by a minority at Stormont AND challenges to it will not be decided by ECJ, but an independent body.
6) Stormont break requires the block by Stormont AND a UK government veto
7) New legal commitment on both UK and EU to protect UK internal market
8) GB-NI trade will be based on UK commercial regulation, not international customs.
Overall I would say this is more like 3-0 for the UK position than 3-1. But both sides win from the deal.
It's just as advertised and, arguably, even better - a fundamental and radical rewrite of the whole NI protocol.
Also, I note that it effectively introduces a new digital border between NI and Eire to monitor north-south movement to compensate, which is a massive concession and something I'd jump on if I were the DUP.
It also sets the precedent of digital borders between the UK and EU, which could be used to reduce trade barriers elsewhere in future. AND the UK can still sign trade deals elsewhere and filter immigration.
Rishi has played a blinder.
Short of agreeing a bit of choreography where the whole EU Commission came into Whitehall and went down on both knees in front of the British government, crying and begging for mercy, whilst the national anthem was played on loudspeaker and a list of famous British military victories read aloud to them accompanied by the Life Guards shouting "Huzzah!" I don't see how how he could have done any better.
True, but the really sad thing is that we didn’t need to elect a tactical genius to achieve all this, but simply to stop electing childish tw*ts who only saw the EU as a straw person to be insulted whenever it suited for personal or political advantage.
The EU were being childish tw*ts as well.
Precisely this sort of deal was being proposed by several of us years ago and it was poo-poohed and lampooned by UTOA Remainers on here as cakeism and fantasy.
They're not laughing now.
FPT - we are, mind. This is just one step back towards the single market. Tick tock.
I was being genuine. It's only a matter of time as far as I'm concerned. There has been no discernible benefit of Brexit and people are starting to wake up to that.
It's all damage limitation isn't it. Sunak's done great here but the deal is just a step towards the dream of 'best of a bad job' Brexit. Don't know how the public will see it over time. I hope we are ambitious enough to want better but we might just shrug and worry about other things.
Yes - while the immediate news story is grown-up Sunak achieving what childish Johnson could or would not - the bigger picture is that we are trying to limit the damage done by Brexit; there remains no sign of any significant upside.
Even Sunak can tell the Commons about the advantage NI gets from being at least partly inside the single market, without any sense of awareness or shame.
The upside is signing new trade deals, of which the two big prizes are the US and the CPTPP. The US one just got a hell of a lot closer.
The second upside is restricting lower skilled migration. We have already cut out the lowest skill work migration, as you now need to earn 26k to move here. Of course, that is not far enough as 26k is too low a limit, and family migration remains exploited by arranged marriages bringing over uneducated spouses from rural Asia and Africa.
Don't we already have a serious employee shortage?
I have to say Sunak is demolitioning Johnson's ludicrous NIP
Indeed it is astonishing just how awful it was
It was an appalling “deal” that put huge pressure on trade between Northern Ireland and the Mainland, and which surrendered sovereignty in several key areas.
Johnson and Frost were utter charlatans.
But it surrendered partial sovereinty only for Northern Ireland. That was better than May's deal which surrendered partial sovereignty for the whole UK. And that in turn was better than EU membership which suffered a whole lot more sovereignty for the whole UK.
On the big news of the day, credit where its' due. Submarine Sunak has resurfaced with what appears to be a pretty major win. I'm far from convinced he's any good at being a Prime Minister that leads the agenda rather than chases along after it.
However that's potentially the EU issue seen off for the next while, as well as a well timed intervention on womens' rights being the straw that broke the Sturgeon's back in the space of a few weeks. The politics of March will be taking place in a vastly different environment to December's.
1) 1700 pages of EU law disapplied, with most trade rules coming from the UK legal side (including food safety), so ECJ presence seems pretty limited
2) UK VAT and excise rates and calculations apply, not Irish or EU ones
3) Free GB-NI trade for medicines, medical products, agriculture, construction goods, steel. UK regulation, not EU, on food, jewellery, clothes and medicines applies
4) Data sharing based on existing data collection, so no additional bureaucratic burden for small businesses
5) Stormont break only applies to NEW EU laws - but can be used just by a minority at Stormont AND challenges to it will not be decided by ECJ, but an independent body.
6) Stormont break requires the block by Stormont AND a UK government veto
7) New legal commitment on both UK and EU to protect UK internal market
8) GB-NI trade will be based on UK commercial regulation, not international customs.
Overall I would say this is more like 3-0 for the UK position than 3-1. But both sides win from the deal.
It's just as advertised and, arguably, even better - a fundamental and radical rewrite of the whole NI protocol.
Also, I note that it effectively introduces a new digital border between NI and Eire to monitor north-south movement to compensate, which is a massive concession and something I'd jump on if I were the DUP.
It also sets the precedent of digital borders between the UK and EU, which could be used to reduce trade barriers elsewhere in future. AND the UK can still sign trade deals elsewhere and filter immigration.
Rishi has played a blinder.
Short of agreeing a bit of choreography where the whole EU Commission came into Whitehall and went down on both knees in front of the British government, crying and begging for mercy, whilst the national anthem was played on loudspeaker and a list of famous British military victories read aloud to them accompanied by the Life Guards shouting "Huzzah!" I don't see how how he could have done any better.
True, but the really sad thing is that we didn’t need to elect a tactical genius to achieve all this, but simply to stop electing childish tw*ts who only saw the EU as a straw person to be insulted whenever it suited for personal or political advantage.
The EU were being childish tw*ts as well.
Precisely this sort of deal was being proposed by several of us years ago and it was poo-poohed and lampooned by UTOA Remainers on here as cakeism and fantasy.
They're not laughing now.
FPT - we are, mind. This is just one step back towards the single market. Tick tock.
I was being genuine. It's only a matter of time as far as I'm concerned. There has been no discernible benefit of Brexit and people are starting to wake up to that.
It's all damage limitation isn't it. Sunak's done great here but the deal is just a step towards the dream of 'best of a bad job' Brexit. Don't know how the public will see it over time. I hope we are ambitious enough to want better but we might just shrug and worry about other things.
Yes - while the immediate news story is grown-up Sunak achieving what childish Johnson could or would not - the bigger picture is that we are trying to limit the damage done by Brexit; there remains no sign of any significant upside.
Even Sunak can tell the Commons about the advantage NI gets from being at least partly inside the single market, without any sense of awareness or shame.
The upside is signing new trade deals, of which the two big prizes are the US and the CPTPP. The US one just got a hell of a lot closer.
The second upside is restricting lower skilled migration. We have already cut out the lowest skill work migration, as you now need to earn 26k to move here. Of course, that is not far enough as 26k is too low a limit, and family migration remains exploited by arranged marriages bringing over uneducated spouses from rural Asia and Africa.
The US deal has moved from “impossible” to “not going to happen”.
As for skilled immigration, the end of your paragraph is more accurate than the beginning.
I don’t see why people think this is bad for Boris. It vindicates blowing up Theresa May’s withdrawal agreement and wouldn’t have been possible without him.
Because they start from the premise that Boris is malign and stupid, and that everyone else will come to see that too. And then they work backwards. They do this irrespective of any polling.
I have to say Sunak is demolitioning Johnson's ludicrous NIP
Indeed it is astonishing just how awful it was
It was an appalling “deal” that put huge pressure on trade between Northern Ireland and the Mainland, and which surrendered sovereignty in several key areas.
Johnson and Frost were utter charlatans.
And yet it paved the way for today's deal. Without that stepping stone this would never happened.
That would work as an argument if it had not been sold to the British people as a brilliant, oven-ready deal.
But I do agree with you on Rejoin. This kills it as an issue for the next decade, I think. At some stage, though, wider, palpable Brexit wins will be necessary if demographics isn't going to do its thing.
1) 1700 pages of EU law disapplied, with most trade rules coming from the UK legal side (including food safety), so ECJ presence seems pretty limited
2) UK VAT and excise rates and calculations apply, not Irish or EU ones
3) Free GB-NI trade for medicines, medical products, agriculture, construction goods, steel. UK regulation, not EU, on food, jewellery, clothes and medicines applies
4) Data sharing based on existing data collection, so no additional bureaucratic burden for small businesses
5) Stormont break only applies to NEW EU laws - but can be used just by a minority at Stormont AND challenges to it will not be decided by ECJ, but an independent body.
6) Stormont break requires the block by Stormont AND a UK government veto
7) New legal commitment on both UK and EU to protect UK internal market
8) GB-NI trade will be based on UK commercial regulation, not international customs.
Overall I would say this is more like 3-0 for the UK position than 3-1. But both sides win from the deal.
It's just as advertised and, arguably, even better - a fundamental and radical rewrite of the whole NI protocol.
Also, I note that it effectively introduces a new digital border between NI and Eire to monitor north-south movement to compensate, which is a massive concession and something I'd jump on if I were the DUP.
It also sets the precedent of digital borders between the UK and EU, which could be used to reduce trade barriers elsewhere in future. AND the UK can still sign trade deals elsewhere and filter immigration.
Rishi has played a blinder.
Short of agreeing a bit of choreography where the whole EU Commission came into Whitehall and went down on both knees in front of the British government, crying and begging for mercy, whilst the national anthem was played on loudspeaker and a list of famous British military victories read aloud to them accompanied by the Life Guards shouting "Huzzah!" I don't see how how he could have done any better.
True, but the really sad thing is that we didn’t need to elect a tactical genius to achieve all this, but simply to stop electing childish tw*ts who only saw the EU as a straw person to be insulted whenever it suited for personal or political advantage.
The EU were being childish tw*ts as well.
Precisely this sort of deal was being proposed by several of us years ago and it was poo-poohed and lampooned by UTOA Remainers on here as cakeism and fantasy.
They're not laughing now.
FPT - we are, mind. This is just one step back towards the single market. Tick tock.
Single market access with a veto over all new laws, the ability to sign trade deals and control over immigration. That is the dream state.
Not sure I get or agree with the 'buried in the small print' comment, as if this was something hidden and to be ashamed of. Given that everything the NIP bill sought to address has been addressed by the adults, it is entirely sensible to drop it and the decision to do so is right there in the main text of the document (rather than being hidden away as if it was something Sunak is seeking to avoid comment on)
Just like to point out that I said about 3 years ago that the Brexit deal meant a booming ulster. They get membership of both single markets and citizenship of both. Duhhhhh
Everyone with eyes was saying that, the more interesting question is why NI's economy has substantially lagged behind the rest of the UK since then.
The sad thing is I don’t think this will shift a single vote.
A pity for Rishi.
It's a bit of a shame, because he's done well. But yes, the people who gain from this are in Ulster and they don't vote Conservative anyway.
But it's only a bit of a shame. For the rest of us, it doesn't do much about the discontents of this Brexit. It won't, for example, make it easier to get tomatoes on our supermarket shelves.
For all this is a good day, we still have a very hard Brexit which Rishi has gone along with all along.
It's good that the UK is no longer doing a damnfool thing in a damnfool way. But doing a damnfool thing in a sensible way is only a limited improvement.
It's great news for Northern Ireland. In a few years they'll probably be subsidising us. At the very least we'll all be visiting their famous tomato markets.
I have to say Sunak is demolitioning Johnson's ludicrous NIP
Indeed it is astonishing just how awful it was
It was an appalling “deal” that put huge pressure on trade between Northern Ireland and the Mainland, and which surrendered sovereignty in several key areas.
Johnson and Frost were utter charlatans.
But it surrendered partial sovereinty only for Northern Ireland. That was better than May's deal which surrendered partial sovereignty for the whole UK. And that in turn was better than EU membership which suffered a whole lot more sovereignty for the whole UK.
I don’t accept this characterisation.
May’s simply booted certain arrangements into the longer term to avoid pain in the short term.
In some ways, it was a “hard” version of “Norway for now”.
What, precisely, did the UK do with Boris’s supposed additional sovereignty? It cost billions and billions in lost growth.
The sad thing is I don’t think this will shift a single vote.
A pity for Rishi.
It's a bit of a shame, because he's done well. But yes, the people who gain from this are in Ulster and they don't vote Conservative anyway.
But it's only a bit of a shame. For the rest of us, it doesn't do much about the discontents of this Brexit. It won't, for example, make it easier to get tomatoes on our supermarket shelves.
For all this is a good day, we still have a very hard Brexit which Rishi has gone along with all along.
It's good that the UK is no longer doing a damnfool thing in a damnfool way. But doing a damnfool thing in a sensible way is only a limited improvement.
On Facebook some pet owners are getting rather excited about the bullet point “onerous restrictions on pet travel will be removed”, not realising that this deal only relates to NI, and travel to and from NI.
Not sure I get or agree with the 'buried in the small print' comment, as if this was something hidden and to be ashamed of. Given that everything the NIP bill sought to address has been addressed by the adults, it is entirely sensible to drop it and the decision to do so is right there in the main text of the document (rather than being hidden away as if it was something Sunak is seeking to avoid comment on)
Where some had points of principle ECJ final arbitrator and border in Irish Sea, does this Agreement actually change that at all?
1) 1700 pages of EU law disapplied, with most trade rules coming from the UK legal side (including food safety), so ECJ presence seems pretty limited
2) UK VAT and excise rates and calculations apply, not Irish or EU ones
3) Free GB-NI trade for medicines, medical products, agriculture, construction goods, steel. UK regulation, not EU, on food, jewellery, clothes and medicines applies
4) Data sharing based on existing data collection, so no additional bureaucratic burden for small businesses
5) Stormont break only applies to NEW EU laws - but can be used just by a minority at Stormont AND challenges to it will not be decided by ECJ, but an independent body.
6) Stormont break requires the block by Stormont AND a UK government veto
7) New legal commitment on both UK and EU to protect UK internal market
8) GB-NI trade will be based on UK commercial regulation, not international customs.
Overall I would say this is more like 3-0 for the UK position than 3-1. But both sides win from the deal.
It's just as advertised and, arguably, even better - a fundamental and radical rewrite of the whole NI protocol.
Also, I note that it effectively introduces a new digital border between NI and Eire to monitor north-south movement to compensate, which is a massive concession and something I'd jump on if I were the DUP.
It also sets the precedent of digital borders between the UK and EU, which could be used to reduce trade barriers elsewhere in future. AND the UK can still sign trade deals elsewhere and filter immigration.
Rishi has played a blinder.
Short of agreeing a bit of choreography where the whole EU Commission came into Whitehall and went down on both knees in front of the British government, crying and begging for mercy, whilst the national anthem was played on loudspeaker and a list of famous British military victories read aloud to them accompanied by the Life Guards shouting "Huzzah!" I don't see how how he could have done any better.
True, but the really sad thing is that we didn’t need to elect a tactical genius to achieve all this, but simply to stop electing childish tw*ts who only saw the EU as a straw person to be insulted whenever it suited for personal or political advantage.
The EU were being childish tw*ts as well.
Precisely this sort of deal was being proposed by several of us years ago and it was poo-poohed and lampooned by UTOA Remainers on here as cakeism and fantasy.
They're not laughing now.
FPT - we are, mind. This is just one step back towards the single market. Tick tock.
I was being genuine. It's only a matter of time as far as I'm concerned. There has been no discernible benefit of Brexit and people are starting to wake up to that.
It's all damage limitation isn't it. Sunak's done great here but the deal is just a step towards the dream of 'best of a bad job' Brexit. Don't know how the public will see it over time. I hope we are ambitious enough to want better but we might just shrug and worry about other things.
Yes - while the immediate news story is grown-up Sunak achieving what childish Johnson could or would not - the bigger picture is that we are trying to limit the damage done by Brexit; there remains no sign of any significant upside.
Even Sunak can tell the Commons about the advantage NI gets from being at least partly inside the single market, without any sense of awareness or shame.
The upside is signing new trade deals, of which the two big prizes are the US and the CPTPP. The US one just got a hell of a lot closer.
The second upside is restricting lower skilled migration. We have already cut out the lowest skill work migration, as you now need to earn 26k to move here. Of course, that is not far enough as 26k is too low a limit, and family migration remains exploited by arranged marriages bringing over uneducated spouses from rural Asia and Africa.
The US deal has moved from “impossible” to “not going to happen”.
As for skilled immigration, the end of your paragraph is more accurate than the beginning.
The US deal will happen. Both are free trading nations, with the main blockers of food regulation and labour standards being surmountable. Certainly more surmountable than what Sunak achieved here.
As for immigration, the limit on work migration to being 26k+ is unarguable.
I have to say Sunak is demolitioning Johnson's ludicrous NIP
Indeed it is astonishing just how awful it was
It was an appalling “deal” that put huge pressure on trade between Northern Ireland and the Mainland, and which surrendered sovereignty in several key areas.
Johnson and Frost were utter charlatans.
But it surrendered partial sovereinty only for Northern Ireland. That was better than May's deal which surrendered partial sovereignty for the whole UK. And that in turn was better than EU membership which suffered a whole lot more sovereignty for the whole UK.
I don’t accept this characterisation.
May’s simply booted certain arrangements into the longer term to avoid pain in the short term.
In some ways, it was a “hard” version of “Norway for now”.
What, precisely, did the UK do with Boris’s supposed additional sovereignty? It cost billions and billions in lost growth.
This is another example of how people talk across each other in this debate. No one sensible thinks Brexit made us richer. It made us poorer than we otherwise might have been, but we left for other reasons.
It's great news for Northern Ireland. In a few years they'll probably be subsidising us. At the very least we'll all be visiting their famous tomato markets.
I have to say Sunak is demolitioning Johnson's ludicrous NIP
Indeed it is astonishing just how awful it was
It was an appalling “deal” that put huge pressure on trade between Northern Ireland and the Mainland, and which surrendered sovereignty in several key areas.
Johnson and Frost were utter charlatans.
But it surrendered partial sovereinty only for Northern Ireland. That was better than May's deal which surrendered partial sovereignty for the whole UK. And that in turn was better than EU membership which suffered a whole lot more sovereignty for the whole UK.
I don’t accept this characterisation.
May’s simply booted certain arrangements into the longer term to avoid pain in the short term.
In some ways, it was a “hard” version of “Norway for now”.
What, precisely, did the UK do with Boris’s supposed additional sovereignty? It cost billions and billions in lost growth.
No, May booted these problems into the never, not into any long term. It was pure dynamic alignment for eternity with no unilateral mechanism to diverge.
Not sure I get or agree with the 'buried in the small print' comment, as if this was something hidden and to be ashamed of. Given that everything the NIP bill sought to address has been addressed by the adults, it is entirely sensible to drop it and the decision to do so is right there in the main text of the document (rather than being hidden away as if it was something Sunak is seeking to avoid comment on)
Where some had points of principle ECJ final arbitrator and border in Irish Sea, does this Agreement actually change that at all?
There is no longer in the Irish sea. GB-NI trade will no longer have checks. And the ECJ has been removed from arbitrator for the Stormont Brake.
Comments
Horizon today, single market soon.
If I thought you seriously believed we’d ever rejoin (as opposed to you just being provocative) I’d invest the time in showing why it’s off the table. But you don’t.
Do all that and he will feel a lasting political benefit. But its a start and if he gets similarly practical on the pay disputes, etc, then who knows.
In terms of tidying up the issues with pets plants and parcels, this deal is not a bad deal, if I was an MP I would vote for it.
In terms of ECJ still being final arbiter over a bit of UK, it’s no change at all, that’s already the case, so no reason not got take the tidy up improvement without actually losing anything on point of principle.
BECAUSE There’s caveats here to the Stormount Break mechanism, the the 30 assembly members needed to trigger the clause, which then merely goes to UK parliament and courts and ultimately EU to decide on the legalise of ‘exceptional circumstances’ justifying to have break.
Today is a key moment in UK politics, for the signal it sends imminent incoming Labour government and other silent remainers - having two stabs at it, the Tories still accept ECJ having the final say. This can be extended. And extended. And extended. salami tactics.
One of the big EU wins in this negotiation is it’s written in the agreement that th Truss Bill, a planned law to override some post-Brexit trade rules, gets binned.
But a market union with single customs... All that would be needed is a suitable name. If Brussels could swallow calling it the Waterloo Concession, even the Spectator's top commentator might get on board.
Thanks his predecessors for their role in achieving this deal.
Much hilarity.
You can argue the drawbacks outweigh the benefits, but to pretend there aren't any benefits is silly.
We’ll keep on getting closer alignment.
To quote a Leaver friend is today closer to our EU membership than yesterday?
Indeed it is astonishing just how awful it was
It's always easier to make a deal, reach an agreement or achieve a compromise when both sides want it and indeed need it to happen. Some on here are talking about the UK "winning" as though this was a battle of wills but in truth I suspect the atmosphere in which the negotiations occurred was far more conducive than was the case in preceding years.
That's not to underestimate the work that has gone on, largely unannounced, behind the scenes and it's the UK and EU officials who deserve most of the credit. I'm sure both the UK and EU have compromised on issues and that's the point of negotiation.
I also suspect both sides saw the truth of the complex situation in which they found themselves and used pragmatic compromise allied with technological advances to achieve a deal which satisfies both and indeed makes life easier for all including the people and businesses of Northern Ireland.
It's a deal to be welcomed but not as though we've won a war or a test match - this is practical Government business accomplished by pragmatic individuals on both sides. I think it plays to the Prime MInister's personal strengths in terms of detail nd he deserves credit for it s does Ursula van Leyen and the EU because it does take two to tango.
What people like you forget is that the EU hasn’t been frozen and won’t remain frozen. As the years pass by, integration into the single market will get harder and harder, and more and more disruptive.
http://qpol.qub.ac.uk/the-problem-with-petitions-of-concern/
You may not care but that’s a solid benefit to those who do.
https://twitter.com/christopherhope
You mean the one the UK used to have !
See also digital and data standards.
Physical products? Very little difference.
“We have now taken back control”
Friends, Romans, countrymen, lend me your ears;
I come to bury Caesar, not to praise him.
The evil that men do lives after them;
Pre Windsor, ECJ final arbitrator and border in Irish Sea - post Windsor ECJ final arbitrator and border in Irish Sea. Nothing has changed in terms of the points of principle.
Except. Firstly, It does tidy up where issues with the previous agreement have been flagged up and accepted. This is mainly around movement of pets plants and parcels.
Secondly - and this is probably the point of most contention - the EU have it written in the agreement that the Truss Bill, a planned law to override some post-Brexit trade rules, gets binned. So as a DUP or ERG you have to be really sure Windsor Deal does tidy up your own issues with this, before binning that legislation taking you backwards on that approach.
A pity for Rishi.
It's a weak line.
"EXCLUSIVE. Approval ratings for SNP contenders from latest @Panelbase poll of voters in Scotland. Forbes: +14. Regan: +3. Yousaf: minus 16." https://twitter.com/SundayTimesSco/status/1629792244109651968
So to sum up the options we have:
Yousaf: Not at all politically savy. Widely disliked. Extremely long list of screwups. Broadly capable of keeping the SNP in its' current left wing authoritarian position and not fracturing the party too much.
Forbes: Popular with the public, and broadly in-line with the Scottish public despite being significantly more religious on some aspects. Completely at odds with its' recent activist and active support base. Would fracture the party.
Regan: Nobody knows her. Wants to air Sturgeon's dirty laundry. Indy nutter. Also unlikely to keep the party together.
If we assume Yousaf won't win because of him being the last choice for the other two's voters, where does this create opportunities in the next GE? Will SGreens start standing against the SNP? If so a major SLAB recovery in Glasgow is likely. Secondly, how tactical will SIndy voters be? If there's a major left and right wing Independence party, will Unionists or the Leavers be more likely to vote tactically?
Feels like once again there'll be a lot of betting value in Scotland for people who read polls not vibes.
Johnson and Frost were utter charlatans.
Even Sunak can tell the Commons about the advantage NI gets from being at least partly inside the single market, without any sense of awareness or shame.
But you know that. You’re just being provocative and, foolishly, I’m being provoked.
The second upside is restricting lower skilled migration. We have already cut out the lowest skill work migration, as you now need to earn 26k to move here. Of course, that is not far enough as 26k is too low a limit, and family migration remains exploited by arranged marriages bringing over uneducated spouses from rural Asia and Africa.
It’s terrifying to consider how many billions of pounds of damage he caused.
However that's potentially the EU issue seen off for the next while, as well as a well timed intervention on womens' rights being the straw that broke the Sturgeon's back in the space of a few weeks. The politics of March will be taking place in a vastly different environment to December's.
As for skilled immigration, the end of your paragraph is more accurate than the beginning.
But I do agree with you on Rejoin. This kills it as an issue for the next decade, I think. At some stage, though, wider, palpable Brexit wins will be necessary if demographics isn't going to do its thing.
But it's only a bit of a shame. For the rest of us, it doesn't do much about the discontents of this Brexit. It won't, for example, make it easier to get tomatoes on our supermarket shelves.
For all this is a good day, we still have a very hard Brexit which Rishi has gone along with all along.
It's good that the UK is no longer doing a damnfool thing in a damnfool way. But doing a damnfool thing in a sensible way is only a limited improvement.
May’s simply booted certain arrangements into the longer term to avoid pain in the short term.
In some ways, it was a “hard” version of “Norway for now”.
What, precisely, did the UK do with Boris’s supposed additional sovereignty? It cost billions and billions in lost growth.
Like the garden bridge.
BoZo island.
The bridge to Ireland.
Unlike the postman, he can't deliver...
As for immigration, the limit on work migration to being 26k+ is unarguable.
https://www.breakingnews.ie/business/fruit-and-vegetable-shortage-due-to-poor-weather-in-spain-irish-retailers-say-1436373.html