EU panic: Brussels believes Boris' masterplan is to rip up Brexit deal and start again
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Relations between Britain and Brussels remain tense after the UK announced it was unilaterally extending a series of "grace periods" to allow businesses in Northern Ireland more time to adapt to post-Brexit rules. The move has infuriated the EU which accused the UK of breaching commitments Mr Johnson signed up to in the Northern Ireland Protocol of the EU Withdrawal Agreement.
There is no appetite in Brussels to renegotiate the Protocol which has led to the disruption of goods movements between Britain and Northern Ireland.
But political expert Mujtaba Rahman said EU leaders now believed Mr Johnson was trying to move into a position from which he can ditch the accord.
Mr Rahman, who has worked at the European Commission's Directorate-General for Economic and Financial Affairs and at the UK Treasury, said: "The EU is coming around to the view that Boris Johnson and David Frost's ultimate objective is to create a context that allows them to argue the protocol doesn't work and must be revisited, renegotiated or scrapped.
"A radicalised DUP, far from being a problem for Government, is a weapon 10 Downing Street can use to achieve changes to it they seek.
"The EU also believes the Government's tough approach is serving the Tories electoral interests and Frost's personal career ambitions well. Why would it change?"
High court rejects bid to extend UK's EU settlement scheme
The high court has rejected a legal bid for an extension to the EU settlement scheme (EUSS), dismissing campaigners’ concerns that those EU residents who fail to apply to remain in the UK before July could face “devastating” consequences, similar to those experienced by the Windrush generation.
Brexit Britain ordered to ‘stop trying to score points' - EU ambassador snaps at UK
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João Vale de Almeida, the bloc's most senior diplomat in London, said the two sides must work collectively to overcome the difficulties in the new relationship between Britain and the EU. However, he said UK-EU relations will "never be like before" as he blamed Brexit for frictions in trade between the UK and the continent and from Britain to Northern Ireland.
"Decisions have consequences and the decision to leave the Union and the decision to live simultaneously the single market and the customs union have repercussions," he said this morning.
"The fact that you left the single market means there have to be check and controls at the border in any case and one needs to adapt to that."
The has UK decided to unilaterally extend the grace periods on exports from Britain to Northern Ireland due to end later this month, sparking anger in Brussels.
New bureaucratic paperwork was due to be introduced for some exports under the Nothern Ireland Protocol from April, which officials in Whitehall feared would disrupt trade and lead to shortages of food in supermarkets.
Careful, Boris! Biden ally issues dire trade threat to UK - Post-Brexit US deal on brink
US Democratic Congressman Brendan Boyle was speaking after attending a meeting of the US Congress' influential Irish-American caucus on the issue on Wednesday. The meeting was addressed by EU Commission Vice President Maros Sefcovic and Irish Foreign Minister Simon Coveney.
The European Union last week said it would take legal action after the British government unilaterally extended a grace period for checks on food imports to Northern Ireland, a move which Brussels claims violates the terms of the Withdrawal Agreement.
The British Government insists the measures are necessary and proportionate and do no such thing.
Mr Boyle, a member of the House of Representatives Ways and Means Committee, which has responsibility for US trade deals, told Irish broadcaster RTE: "There are many members of Congress, and they were on the call yesterday, who share my deep concern and real shock at the wanton disregard for international law being displayed by some in London.
"Certainly the continued provocations around the Northern Ireland Protocol, obviously make it very difficult to commence a US-UK trade deal."
The fate of Northern Ireland, closely watched by the Biden administration, has been the most bitterly contested Brexit issue.
While campaigning prior to last year's Presidential election, Mr Biden warned Britain that it must honour Northern Ireland's 1998 peace agreement as it withdrew from the EU, stressing that otherwise, there could be no separate US trade deal.
On Wednesday, Richard Neal, the chairman of the Ways and Means Committee, told the BBC Prime Minister Boris Johnson's recent move had "bothered" many in Congress due to its unilateral nature, which he said threatened the goodwill established by the 1998 deal.
Brexit-bashing Lords hit out at David Frost for suspending EU deal rules in furious letter
The Lords' European Union committee criticised the Government's decision to delay the implementation of customs checks, warning it risked "destabilising" relations with the EU. Ministers had said businesses needed more time to adapt to the new bureaucratic red tape due to be introduced at the start of next month.
The Great British Art Tour: the high priestess of the grotesque and Malthy her cat Prince William reacts to Meghan and Harry’s explosive interview with…
The Lords' European Union committee criticised the Government's decision to delay the implementation of customs checks, warning it risked "destabilising" relations with the EU. Ministers had said businesses needed more time to adapt to the new bureaucratic red tape due to be introduced at the start of next month.
Northern Ireland remains in the EU customs union as part of Boris Johnson's Brexit deal and as a result, export forms must be filled in on shipments to the province.
The UK's decision was met with outrage in Brussels, who accused Britain of failing to live up to its commitments under the Northern Ireland Protocol which outlines the need for extra paperwork.
The bloc has said the UK's decision to unilaterally extend the grace periods on the customs checks breaks international law.
Express.co.uk understands the EU will launch legal action against the move in the coming days.
And now peers have also criticised the move in a letter to Lord Frost.
"We are concerned at the potentially destabilising effect of the Government's decision to announce the extension unilaterally," the Lords committee wrote.
They said such actions "significantly undermined mutual trust and confidence" in Brexit relations.
The peers added: "The Protocol remains a source of intense political controversy and instability, not only between the UK and the EU, but also between the UK and Ireland, and within Northern Ireland itself."
Trade experts ridicule David Frost for denying his Brexit deal is responsible for exports crash
Trade experts have ridiculed the minister who negotiated the Brexit deal, after he denied it was responsible for a devastating collapse in exports.
Goods sales to the EU plunged by 40.7 per cent in January – and imports slumped by 28.8 per cent – the largest declines since comparable records began in 1997.
Significantly, there were no similar falls in Britain’s trade with non-EU countries, apparently firm evidence that a mountain of new red tape since Brexit was completed is to blame.
But David Frost, picked by Boris Johnson to negotiate the Christmas Eve agreement, pointed to pre-Christmas “stockpiling” and “Covid lockdowns across Europe” as explanations for the slump.
“These effects are starting to unwind,” he argued, adding: “Freight volumes between the UK and the EU have been back to their normal levels for over a month now, i.e. since the start of February.”
Lord Frost, now the Brexit minister, also said: “Many businesses have made the changes needed to trade effectively with the EU, but we are focused on providing active and extensive support to others who need to adapt.”
But David Henig, director of the European Centre for International Political Economy, said such denial flew in the face of “pretty much every reputable trade specialist and 100 years of trade theory”.
Sam Lowe, senior research fellow at The Centre for European Reform think-tank, said: “I mean, it’s not particularly difficult to understand.
“If you put up large barriers to international trade, the expected result is trading becomes more expensive and difficult, and therefore there is less trade than if the barriers were not there.”
And Anton Spisak, a former Foreign Office policy adviser – pointing to an 83 per cent plunge in fish exports to the EU – taunted Lord Frost, saying “Somewhat difficult to stockpile fish, I think.”
Surenâ¯Thiru, head of economics at the British Chambers of Commerce, said the figures were “an ominous indication of the damage being done to post-Brexit trade with the EU”.
“The practical difficulties faced by businesses on the ground go well beyond just teething problems and, with disruption to UK-EU trade flows persisting, trade is likely to be a drag on UK economic growth in the first quarter of 2021.”
That view echoes the Office for Budget Responsibility, the Treasury watchdog, which forecast a £2.5bn hit to the UK economy – 0.5 per cent of GDP – in just three months.
But Lord Frost called for “caution when interpreting these statistics”, insisting: “This month’s unique combination of factors made it inevitable that we would see some unusual figures this January.”
Mr Henig warned the economic damage would continue, saying: “It will take some time for all of the goods and services trade effects of Brexit to become clear.
“But there is currently little reason to think that forecasts of the order of a 5 per cent hit to GDP over a few years are likely to be wrong.”
Brexit news: Voters worried for UK economy, poll finds, amid massive slump in trade with EU
Majorities of Britons believe Brexit has been bad for the UK economy and trade, according to new polling for The Independent which offers the first indication that the fallout from leaving the EU’s single market and customs union in January is cutting through with voters.
The polling by Savanta ComRes was conducted before it was confirmed on Friday that a precipitous 40.7 per cent fall in goods sales to the EU in January took place, with experts blaming Brexit for a large chunk of the lost exports.
Figures showed that 39 per cent thought Brexit had so far been bad for trade, against just 18 per cent who said it had been good, while 37 per cent rated it bad for the UK economy, compared to 25 per cent who said its effects have been beneficial.
The Observer view on the grim effects of Brexit being impossible to hide
When the British people narrowly voted to leave the EU in 2016, they did not give the government a mandate to wreck our economic and political relationship with Europe. When Boris Johnson won the general election in 2019, he was expected to forge workable new arrangements with the UK’s largest trading partner, not allow exporters to be strangled by red tape and ruinous extra costs. Nor was he given a green light to break legally binding promises.
When Johnson and his rightwing Leave campaign pals claimed to have “got Brexit done” on 31 January last year, they failed to say the patchwork agreement they signed had more holes in it than a Cumbrian coal mine. Johnson did not admit he had fudged crucial issues such as Northern Ireland’s borders, and sold out Britain’s fisheries, in order to claim a bogus victory.
Yet truth will out. Day by bleak day, the epic damage caused by this execrable deception, this shameful Conservative con, becomes ever more evident. No amount of Michael Gove spin can hide the facts. No amount of distortion of official statistics can conceal the harm. Feeble claims by David Frost, Brexit booster-in-chief, that Covid and EU hostility are to blame will not wash. It’s clear where responsibility lies. And “lies” is the operative word.
Johnson and his team cannot dissemble away alarming figures showing UK exports of goods to the EU plunged by 40.7% in January, caused in large part by Brexit bureaucracy, incompetence and delays. That’s a £5.6bn loss when the economy can least afford it. Exports of food and live animals were particularly badly hit, down by 63.6%. Producers of fish and shellfish, who Johnson personally pledged to protect, saw their exports collapse by 83% year on year.
EU exporters to the UK get a free ride while UK business continues to be handicapped by mountains of paperwork
Adding insult to injury, reciprocal import checks and controls on the UK side will remain absent until next year, Downing Street now confirms. In truth, the government could no longer conceal its abject failure to install necessary border infrastructure and computer systems. In practice, this means that EU exporters to the UK get a free ride while UK business continues to be handicapped by mountains of paperwork – as agreed by Johnson.
When the Observer first reported a Road Haulage Association survey early last month that indicated huge falls in exports, it was met by a misleading barrage of official obfuscation. Gove, the minister responsible, was subsequently rebuked by the UK Statistics Authority for making unverifiable rebuttals based on unpublished data. Typically for this government, Gove has failed to apologise or set the record straight.Forgive us for asking how this only-too-real trade fiasco squares with Johnson’s claim to have taken back control of Britain’s borders? What does the fact that Britain is now the ultimate EU rule-taker tell us about his boasts to have restored sovereignty? One thing is certain: it’s a potential disaster for jobs, investment, consumer prices and the balance of payments. And, make no mistake, this is no temporary hitch.
It’s not due to stockpiling, or lack of Covid jabs, or bad weather, or any other dreamt-up excuse. It’s the result of a fatally flawed, misconceived Brexit deal that is not, and never was, fit for purpose. The EU defends its own interests – no surprise there. What is shocking is how Johnson has failed to defend Britain’s. We cannot go on blaming the organisation we left for the problems we face as a result of opting to leave on the most damaging terms possible. And it will get worse later in the year, when additional EU export regulations are due to come in.
The debacle over Northern Ireland’s trade is more dismaying and dangerous. Always a botched job, it is now falling apart
The parallel debacle over Northern Ireland’s trading arrangements is, if anything, even more dismaying – and dangerous. Even after he broke his word to unionists by agreeing to a border in the Irish Sea, Johnson’s deal still cannot ensure frictionless, two-way trade while safeguarding the Good Friday peace agreement. It was always a botched job. Now, predictably, it is falling apart.
Yet what does our prime minister do? He shirks responsibility. He does not admit he misled the people of Northern Ireland and made promises to the EU that he never intended to honour. Instead, he tries to shift the legal goalposts, as he threatened last autumn by unilaterally suspending checks on goods imported from Great Britain for as long as he sees fit. It’s a blatant breach of the withdrawal agreement. But Johnson just does not care.
The EU does. It’s understandably furious over the government’s bad faith. Relations are now locked in a destructive downward spiral as the dispute heads to court. Once again, Johnson stands accused of dishonesty. Once again, old friends in Europe and the Joe Biden administration in the US wonder out loud whether Johnson’s Britain keeps its word. Once again, he has given succour to un-democratic foes in Russia and China.
Forget, for a minute, the dreadfully mangled, mismanaged morass that is Brexit. This is a question of trust as much as competence. It goes to the heart of the UK’s future international standing. It adversely affects hopes that “Global Britain” can successfully make its way as an independent power. The shaming truth is that just as the British people cannot trust Johnson to do the right thing, no more can the rest of the world.
Johnson’s biggest lie is now exposed for all to see. Brexit is not “done”. It’s not working. It’s not even Brexit.
We are not going to get "clear figures" as to what economic effect Brexit may have anytime soon.
Nothing to do with Brexit. Everything to do with the seismic economic change that is Covid-19. Which has totally changed the economic picture. And is the reason why the papers have nothing to report on bar meaningless tittle-tattle. We will probably never be able to accurately forecast how much damage Brexit has done.
PS. You know a reporter is getting desperate when they refer to "anecdotal evidence". That would be baseless gossip, then.
The Observer view on the grim effects of Brexit being impossible to hide
When the British people narrowly voted to leave the EU in 2016, they did not give the government a mandate to wreck our economic and political relationship with Europe. When Boris Johnson won the general election in 2019, he was expected to forge workable new arrangements with the UK’s largest trading partner, not allow exporters to be strangled by red tape and ruinous extra costs. Nor was he given a green light to break legally binding promises.
When Johnson and his rightwing Leave campaign pals claimed to have “got Brexit done” on 31 January last year, they failed to say the patchwork agreement they signed had more holes in it than a Cumbrian coal mine. Johnson did not admit he had fudged crucial issues such as Northern Ireland’s borders, and sold out Britain’s fisheries, in order to claim a bogus victory.
Yet truth will out. Day by bleak day, the epic damage caused by this execrable deception, this shameful Conservative con, becomes ever more evident. No amount of Michael Gove spin can hide the facts. No amount of distortion of official statistics can conceal the harm. Feeble claims by David Frost, Brexit booster-in-chief, that Covid and EU hostility are to blame will not wash. It’s clear where responsibility lies. And “lies” is the operative word.
Johnson and his team cannot dissemble away alarming figures showing UK exports of goods to the EU plunged by 40.7% in January, caused in large part by Brexit bureaucracy, incompetence and delays. That’s a £5.6bn loss when the economy can least afford it. Exports of food and live animals were particularly badly hit, down by 63.6%. Producers of fish and shellfish, who Johnson personally pledged to protect, saw their exports collapse by 83% year on year.
EU exporters to the UK get a free ride while UK business continues to be handicapped by mountains of paperwork
Adding insult to injury, reciprocal import checks and controls on the UK side will remain absent until next year, Downing Street now confirms. In truth, the government could no longer conceal its abject failure to install necessary border infrastructure and computer systems. In practice, this means that EU exporters to the UK get a free ride while UK business continues to be handicapped by mountains of paperwork – as agreed by Johnson.
When the Observer first reported a Road Haulage Association survey early last month that indicated huge falls in exports, it was met by a misleading barrage of official obfuscation. Gove, the minister responsible, was subsequently rebuked by the UK Statistics Authority for making unverifiable rebuttals based on unpublished data. Typically for this government, Gove has failed to apologise or set the record straight.Forgive us for asking how this only-too-real trade fiasco squares with Johnson’s claim to have taken back control of Britain’s borders? What does the fact that Britain is now the ultimate EU rule-taker tell us about his boasts to have restored sovereignty? One thing is certain: it’s a potential disaster for jobs, investment, consumer prices and the balance of payments. And, make no mistake, this is no temporary hitch.
It’s not due to stockpiling, or lack of Covid jabs, or bad weather, or any other dreamt-up excuse. It’s the result of a fatally flawed, misconceived Brexit deal that is not, and never was, fit for purpose. The EU defends its own interests – no surprise there. What is shocking is how Johnson has failed to defend Britain’s. We cannot go on blaming the organisation we left for the problems we face as a result of opting to leave on the most damaging terms possible. And it will get worse later in the year, when additional EU export regulations are due to come in.
The debacle over Northern Ireland’s trade is more dismaying and dangerous. Always a botched job, it is now falling apart
The parallel debacle over Northern Ireland’s trading arrangements is, if anything, even more dismaying – and dangerous. Even after he broke his word to unionists by agreeing to a border in the Irish Sea, Johnson’s deal still cannot ensure frictionless, two-way trade while safeguarding the Good Friday peace agreement. It was always a botched job. Now, predictably, it is falling apart.
Yet what does our prime minister do? He shirks responsibility. He does not admit he misled the people of Northern Ireland and made promises to the EU that he never intended to honour. Instead, he tries to shift the legal goalposts, as he threatened last autumn by unilaterally suspending checks on goods imported from Great Britain for as long as he sees fit. It’s a blatant breach of the withdrawal agreement. But Johnson just does not care.
The EU does. It’s understandably furious over the government’s bad faith. Relations are now locked in a destructive downward spiral as the dispute heads to court. Once again, Johnson stands accused of dishonesty. Once again, old friends in Europe and the Joe Biden administration in the US wonder out loud whether Johnson’s Britain keeps its word. Once again, he has given succour to un-democratic foes in Russia and China.
Forget, for a minute, the dreadfully mangled, mismanaged morass that is Brexit. This is a question of trust as much as competence. It goes to the heart of the UK’s future international standing. It adversely affects hopes that “Global Britain” can successfully make its way as an independent power. The shaming truth is that just as the British people cannot trust Johnson to do the right thing, no more can the rest of the world.
Johnson’s biggest lie is now exposed for all to see. Brexit is not “done”. It’s not working. It’s not even Brexit.
Brexit LIVE: Boris Johnson told to stop making £20billion Brexit bill payments to the EU
Britain is set to make £20billion worth of divorce payments to the bloc over the next two years under the terms of exit, with more following in subsequent years. But during his visit to the Province last week, Mr Johnson admitted the Northern Ireland Protocol was not working as he expected.
Now, Mark Francois, the chairman of the 60-strong European Research Group of Conservative MPs, said the Prime Minister should stop these payments after the EU enforced regulations for UK exports.
He said: "Since we left the Transition Period the EU's attitude has been increasing bellicose.
"First they criticised our 'British' vaccine and then attacked us for not giving them enough of it; then they triggered Article 16, in some overnight spasm, to create a hard border they had sworn to avoid - and now they are petulantly refusing to ratify a trade deal which it took a year to negotiate.
"As Brits, we traditionally honour our obligations but you have to ask yourself why are we continuing to pay this 'Danegeld' to people who only treat us with open contempt in return?"
I am at something of a loss as to why you create a thread called "Brexit Benefits", and then give nothing but examples of perceived disadvantages, rather than any benefits. There have undoubtedly been problems, but the sky hasn't exactly fallen in, has it?
So, in the interests of debate as to possible benefits of Brexit, 2 simple questions:-
1. Do you think Boris has been a more effective PM since we left the EU? 2. Do you think that, if we were still in the EU, we would have been allowed to be so far ahead in vaccinations?
The EU did negotiate a far better price for the AZ, and Pfizer vaccines.
True. But they didn't get them Seems strange that there can be different pricing when this is supposedly "not for profit"
The authorisation process would have been identical.
But if we were still in the EU, we would have been forced to hand over our excess vaccine. Like every club, you have to look after your fellow members.
Of course anyone can call a thread anything they want. But calling it 1 thing and doing precisely the opposite is a bit strange
How do you think Brexit is going so far?
Better than I expected.
Not without any problems-but any sensible person would expect an amount of problems.
Northern Ireland is a major problem. But the upside for the UK is that this border problem will likely mean that any independent Scotland will not be admitted to the EU. For 2 reasons:-
1. Most current EU countries have not existed in their current form as long as the UK. Spain will not want to encourage their own separatist movements, etc 2. If anyone thinks the N.I border is problematic, imagine the problems in relation to the England/Scotland border.
Important to remember that no news means good news. The doomsayer wing of Remainers are as far removed from reality as the Farage wing.
Brexit: UK delays border checks on EU goods into Great Britain
Highest Rated J Comment posted by Jules, at 15:03 11 MarJules 15:03 11 Mar How the **** were businesses supposed to be ready as per the government advertising when they had no idea what was coming. This is an utter mess which is going to cost us all (except the rich) massively in the long run. 731 125
W Reply posted by World Leading Shambles, at 15:29 11 MarWorld Leading Shambles 15:29 11 Mar to Jules
" How the **** were businesses supposed to be ready as per the government advertising when they had no idea what was coming. This is an utter mess which is going to cost us all (except the rich) massively in the long run. " World Leading Shambles replied: The only Tory plan they've delivered on is to make the rich richer 478 122
More replies (59) B Comment posted by Border Collie, at 15:01 11 MarBorder Collie 15:01 11 Mar The leaders of industry who employ millions in the UK warned Bozo the problems Brexit would cause, especially if its a bad deal and extra bureaucracy. But we all know the clown said "f*** business." This is what happens when you have an Eton buffoon as PM, who has no experience of the real world and lacks business knowledge 🙄
Bozo must have ate the “oven ready” 😂 812 286
B Reply posted by bpmkent, at 15:12 11 Marbpmkent 15:12 11 Mar to Border Collie
" The leaders of industry who employ millions in the UK warned Bozo the problems Brexit would cause, especially if its a bad deal and extra bureaucracy. But we all know the clown said "f*** business." This is what happens when you have an Eton buffoon as PM, who has no experience of the real world and lacks business knowledge 🙄 Bozo must have ate the “oven ready” 😂 " bpmkent replied: Ah, but that's working on the assumption this is to help businesses. It seems more likely that govt simply aren't prepared for the impact of delays at the borders, so are using covid as an excuse to buy themselves some time.
As you've pointed out, he's previously made his opinions about business very clear, and I doubt he's grown a conscience now. 473 102
More replies (92) F Comment posted by FauxGeordie, at 15:04 11 MarFauxGeordie 15:04 11 Mar We'll take back control of our borders by errr... opening them.
What an utter shambles. Policy and implementation - money being hosed all over the place (no doubt to the usual gilded insiders)
Brexiters jeered at the idea that we'd be a centre for smuggling and people trafficking, now they are DEMANDING it.
Unbelievable. All predicted & in a lot of detail - & flatly denied by the Angry Grandads 569 111
Removed comment
More replies (38) W Comment posted by World Leading Shambles, at 15:03 11 MarWorld Leading Shambles 15:03 11 Mar It's as if Johnson, Gove and Frost didn't have the slightest clue of what they were signing up to and how it would work on the ground with real businesses........ 493 69
U Reply posted by U14012980, at 15:31 11 MarU14012980 15:31 11 Mar to World Leading Shambles
" It's as if Johnson, Gove and Frost didn't have the slightest clue of what they were signing up to and how it would work on the ground with real businesses........ " U14012980 replied: They had 4+ years to prepare... excuses now not acceptable. 272 48
More replies (23) E Comment posted by eggnogs, at 15:02 11 Mareggnogs 15:02 11 Mar It would have helped if businesses were given more time to prepare rather than the 11th hour deal before Christmas and thrown into the abyss post Brexit on January 1st! 483 62
D Reply posted by Doug, at 15:17 11 MarDoug 15:17 11 Mar to eggnogs
" It would have helped if businesses were given more time to prepare rather than the 11th hour deal before Christmas and thrown into the abyss post Brexit on January 1st! " Doug replied: But having an 11th hour and 59 minute deal was essential to avoid Parliamentary scrutiny, that would have exposed how bad the deal was. 525 80
Reply posted by Andy P, at 15:20 11 MarAndy P 15:20 11 Mar to r1404
" So EU imports are given a free pass into GB whilst our exporters are hamstrung by Spaffers "great deal"Sometimes I think that our Govt does not have a clue what it is doing " Andy P replied: It never did, Test and Trace!!?? 133 19
More replies (16) T Comment posted by That_Ian, at 15:03 11 MarThat_Ian 15:03 11 Mar "The UK has insisted the move is lawful and justified"
Yeah, of course it is. Ehem.
Party of the Rich blatant disregard for international rules is making a pariah out of the UK. Soon we will be begging anyone to do business, any business, with us. 243 54
D Reply posted by Doug, at 15:23 11 MarDoug 15:23 11 Mar to That_Ian
" "The UK has insisted the move is lawful and justified"Yeah, of course it is. Ehem.Party of the Rich blatant disregard for international rules is making a pariah out of the UK. Soon we will be begging anyone to do business, any business, with us. " Doug replied: It is lawful and justified but also hugely disadvantages UK Exporters and hands a big advantage to EU exporters. It's almost as if they don't want Brexit to succeed so we can go back into the EU. 50 65
More replies (12) M Comment posted by micmac, at 15:06 11 Marmicmac 15:06 11 Mar What a lie it was to say that our borders were ready for Brexit! Is this 'taking back control of our borders?? 191 29
W Reply posted by Worried pensioner, at 15:22 11 MarWorried pensioner 15:22 11 Mar to micmac
" What a lie it was to say that our borders were ready for Brexit! Is this 'taking back control of our borders?? " Worried pensioner replied: The johnson never lies, does he? 110 23
More replies (40) S Comment posted by Skinnydog0_0, at 15:08 11 MarSkinnydog0_0 15:08 11 Mar Hahahahaha- taking back control of our borders- hahahaha
Yes just wave it all through!
This Brexit is just a total sham. 434 72
D Reply posted by daniel webb, at 15:12 11 Mardaniel webb 15:12 11 Mar to Skinnydog0_0
" Hahahahaha- taking back control of our borders- hahahahaYes just wave it all through!This Brexit is just a total sham. " daniel webb replied: Less trade barriers including checks during a pandemic / emergency is entirely consistent with taking back control of our borders. Because it is a decision made by the UK government we voted for.
Which anyway, you know borders meant freedom of movement ending. 59 271
More replies (34) P Comment posted by Popeye, at 15:05 11 MarPopeye 15:05 11 Mar Why did boris sign the trade deal if he never intended to honour it? Another ERG ruse to get their no-deal? 371 64
R Reply posted by RuralJohn, at 15:11 11 MarRuralJohn 15:11 11 Mar to Popeye
" Why did boris sign the trade deal if he never intended to honour it? Another ERG ruse to get their no-deal? " RuralJohn replied: you have to remember that there is a whole shed load of wealthy individuals who have made an bsolute mint out of Brexit 330 44
More replies (19) W Comment posted by World Leading Shambles, at 15:04 11 MarWorld Leading Shambles 15:04 11 Mar Ding..... That's the sound of the oven ready deal being put in the chiller, clueless incompetence once again 332 56
W Reply posted by WHERE IS MY APOLOGY, at 15:09 11 MarWHERE IS MY APOLOGY 15:09 11 Mar to World Leading Shambles
" Ding.....That's the sound of the oven ready deal being put in the chiller, clueless incompetence once again " WHERE IS MY APOLOGY replied: Ding......
That’s the sound of more Remoaning soundbites from a typical Remoaner who can’t get over the fact that we’ve left the corrupt EU and it’s failed project! 121 481
More replies (61) B Comment posted by bpmkent, at 15:08 11 Marbpmkent 15:08 11 Mar Johnson & co must be so glad for covid - they can blame all their failings around Brexit on covd & take no personal responsibility. 316 51
R Reply posted by r1404, at 15:17 11 Marr1404 15:17 11 Mar to bpmkent
" Johnson & co must be so glad for covid - they can blame all their failings around Brexit on covd & take no personal responsibility. " r1404 replied: Spaffer would not accept reposibility Covid or not 192 22
More replies (8) K Comment posted by Koopa Troopa, at 15:05 11 MarKoopa Troopa 15:05 11 Mar He could easily have signed an extension but the evil empire of the ERG would never have accepted that and would have made his life a misery had he tried. So, as well as export issues, we don’t have the resources to examine incoming goods. Take back control they said 🤣 261 35
S Reply posted by sw, at 17:26 11 Marsw 17:26 11 Mar to Koopa Troopa
" He could easily have signed an extension but the evil empire of the ERG would never have accepted that and would have made his life a misery had he tried. So, as well as export issues, we don’t have the resources to examine incoming goods. Take back control they said 🤣 " sw replied: Drugrunners charter. 33
Comments
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Relations between Britain and Brussels remain tense after the UK announced it was unilaterally extending a series of "grace periods" to allow businesses in Northern Ireland more time to adapt to post-Brexit rules. The move has infuriated the EU which accused the UK of breaching commitments Mr Johnson signed up to in the Northern Ireland Protocol of the EU Withdrawal Agreement.
There is no appetite in Brussels to renegotiate the Protocol which has led to the disruption of goods movements between Britain and Northern Ireland.
But political expert Mujtaba Rahman said EU leaders now believed Mr Johnson was trying to move into a position from which he can ditch the accord.
Mr Rahman, who has worked at the European Commission's Directorate-General for Economic and Financial Affairs and at the UK Treasury, said: "The EU is coming around to the view that Boris Johnson and David Frost's ultimate objective is to create a context that allows them to argue the protocol doesn't work and must be revisited, renegotiated or scrapped.
"A radicalised DUP, far from being a problem for Government, is a weapon 10 Downing Street can use to achieve changes to it they seek.
"The EU also believes the Government's tough approach is serving the Tories electoral interests and Frost's personal career ambitions well. Why would it change?"
https://www.msn.com/en-gb/money/other/eu-panic-brussels-believes-boris-masterplan-is-to-rip-up-brexit-deal-and-start-again/ar-BB1euLkH?ocid=msedgntp
The high court has rejected a legal bid for an extension to the EU settlement scheme (EUSS), dismissing campaigners’ concerns that those EU residents who fail to apply to remain in the UK before July could face “devastating” consequences, similar to those experienced by the Windrush generation.
https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/uknews/high-court-rejects-bid-to-extend-uk-s-eu-settlement-scheme/ar-BB1euvGj?ocid=msedgntp
…
João Vale de Almeida, the bloc's most senior diplomat in London, said the two sides must work collectively to overcome the difficulties in the new relationship between Britain and the EU. However, he said UK-EU relations will "never be like before" as he blamed Brexit for frictions in trade between the UK and the continent and from Britain to Northern Ireland.
"Decisions have consequences and the decision to leave the Union and the decision to live simultaneously the single market and the customs union have repercussions," he said this morning.
"The fact that you left the single market means there have to be check and controls at the border in any case and one needs to adapt to that."
The has UK decided to unilaterally extend the grace periods on exports from Britain to Northern Ireland due to end later this month, sparking anger in Brussels.
New bureaucratic paperwork was due to be introduced for some exports under the Nothern Ireland Protocol from April, which officials in Whitehall feared would disrupt trade and lead to shortages of food in supermarkets.
https://www.msn.com/en-gb/money/other/brexit-britain-ordered-to-stop-trying-to-score-points-eu-ambassador-snaps-at-uk/ar-BB1etBOA?ocid=msedgntp
US Democratic Congressman Brendan Boyle was speaking after attending a meeting of the US Congress' influential Irish-American caucus on the issue on Wednesday. The meeting was addressed by EU Commission Vice President Maros Sefcovic and Irish Foreign Minister Simon Coveney.
The European Union last week said it would take legal action after the British government unilaterally extended a grace period for checks on food imports to Northern Ireland, a move which Brussels claims violates the terms of the Withdrawal Agreement.
The British Government insists the measures are necessary and proportionate and do no such thing.
Mr Boyle, a member of the House of Representatives Ways and Means Committee, which has responsibility for US trade deals, told Irish broadcaster RTE: "There are many members of Congress, and they were on the call yesterday, who share my deep concern and real shock at the wanton disregard for international law being displayed by some in London.
"Certainly the continued provocations around the Northern Ireland Protocol, obviously make it very difficult to commence a US-UK trade deal."
The fate of Northern Ireland, closely watched by the Biden administration, has been the most bitterly contested Brexit issue.
While campaigning prior to last year's Presidential election, Mr Biden warned Britain that it must honour Northern Ireland's 1998 peace agreement as it withdrew from the EU, stressing that otherwise, there could be no separate US trade deal.
On Wednesday, Richard Neal, the chairman of the Ways and Means Committee, told the BBC Prime Minister Boris Johnson's recent move had "bothered" many in Congress due to its unilateral nature, which he said threatened the goodwill established by the 1998 deal.
https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/uknews/careful-boris-biden-ally-issues-dire-trade-threat-to-uk-post-brexit-us-deal-on-brink/ar-BB1eurnS?ocid=msedgntp
The Lords' European Union committee criticised the Government's decision to delay the implementation of customs checks, warning it risked "destabilising" relations with the EU. Ministers had said businesses needed more time to adapt to the new bureaucratic red tape due to be introduced at the start of next month.
The Great British Art Tour: the high priestess of the grotesque and Malthy her cat
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The Lords' European Union committee criticised the Government's decision to delay the implementation of customs checks, warning it risked "destabilising" relations with the EU. Ministers had said businesses needed more time to adapt to the new bureaucratic red tape due to be introduced at the start of next month.
Northern Ireland remains in the EU customs union as part of Boris Johnson's Brexit deal and as a result, export forms must be filled in on shipments to the province.
The UK's decision was met with outrage in Brussels, who accused Britain of failing to live up to its commitments under the Northern Ireland Protocol which outlines the need for extra paperwork.
The bloc has said the UK's decision to unilaterally extend the grace periods on the customs checks breaks international law.
Express.co.uk understands the EU will launch legal action against the move in the coming days.
And now peers have also criticised the move in a letter to Lord Frost.
"We are concerned at the potentially destabilising effect of the Government's decision to announce the extension unilaterally," the Lords committee wrote.
They said such actions "significantly undermined mutual trust and confidence" in Brexit relations.
The peers added: "The Protocol remains a source of intense political controversy and instability, not only between the UK and the EU, but also between the UK and Ireland, and within Northern Ireland itself."
https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/uknews/brexit-bashing-lords-hit-out-at-david-frost-for-suspending-eu-deal-rules-in-furious-letter/ar-BB1euw3N?ocid=msedgntp
EU exports fell by 40%.
Imports fell by 29%.
Just teething problems?
https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/uknews/pm-calls-for-symmetry-and-balance-in-ni-protocol-arrangements/ar-BB1ewGx1?ocid=msedgntp
https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/uknews/forget-teething-problems-brexit-is-still-hitting-uk-exports-say-transport-giants/ar-BB1ewF2Y?ocid=msedgntp
https://www.msn.com/en-gb/money/other/fury-at-boris-s-27m-post-brexit-failure-over-greenland-trade-pact-fish-chips-at-risk/ar-BB1ewHev?ocid=msedgntp
https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/uknews/boris-johnson-sparks-political-row-by-refusing-to-hold-talks-with-sinn-fein-on-belfast-trip/ar-BB1ewneR?ocid=msedgntp
Trade experts have ridiculed the minister who negotiated the Brexit deal, after he denied it was responsible for a devastating collapse in exports.
Goods sales to the EU plunged by 40.7 per cent in January – and imports slumped by 28.8 per cent – the largest declines since comparable records began in 1997.
Significantly, there were no similar falls in Britain’s trade with non-EU countries, apparently firm evidence that a mountain of new red tape since Brexit was completed is to blame.
But David Frost, picked by Boris Johnson to negotiate the Christmas Eve agreement, pointed to pre-Christmas “stockpiling” and “Covid lockdowns across Europe” as explanations for the slump.
“These effects are starting to unwind,” he argued, adding: “Freight volumes between the UK and the EU have been back to their normal levels for over a month now, i.e. since the start of February.”
Lord Frost, now the Brexit minister, also said: “Many businesses have made the changes needed to trade effectively with the EU, but we are focused on providing active and extensive support to others who need to adapt.”
But David Henig, director of the European Centre for International Political Economy, said such denial flew in the face of “pretty much every reputable trade specialist and 100 years of trade theory”.
Sam Lowe, senior research fellow at The Centre for European Reform think-tank, said: “I mean, it’s not particularly difficult to understand.
“If you put up large barriers to international trade, the expected result is trading becomes more expensive and difficult, and therefore there is less trade than if the barriers were not there.”
And Anton Spisak, a former Foreign Office policy adviser – pointing to an 83 per cent plunge in fish exports to the EU – taunted Lord Frost, saying “Somewhat difficult to stockpile fish, I think.”
Surenâ¯Thiru, head of economics at the British Chambers of Commerce, said the figures were “an ominous indication of the damage being done to post-Brexit trade with the EU”.
“The practical difficulties faced by businesses on the ground go well beyond just teething problems and, with disruption to UK-EU trade flows persisting, trade is likely to be a drag on UK economic growth in the first quarter of 2021.”
That view echoes the Office for Budget Responsibility, the Treasury watchdog, which forecast a £2.5bn hit to the UK economy – 0.5 per cent of GDP – in just three months.
But Lord Frost called for “caution when interpreting these statistics”, insisting: “This month’s unique combination of factors made it inevitable that we would see some unusual figures this January.”
Mr Henig warned the economic damage would continue, saying: “It will take some time for all of the goods and services trade effects of Brexit to become clear.
“But there is currently little reason to think that forecasts of the order of a 5 per cent hit to GDP over a few years are likely to be wrong.”
https://www.msn.com/en-gb/money/other/trade-experts-ridicule-david-frost-for-denying-his-brexit-deal-is-responsible-for-exports-crash/ar-BB1ewghS?ocid=msedgntp
Majorities of Britons believe Brexit has been bad for the UK economy and trade, according to new polling for The Independent which offers the first indication that the fallout from leaving the EU’s single market and customs union in January is cutting through with voters.
The polling by Savanta ComRes was conducted before it was confirmed on Friday that a precipitous 40.7 per cent fall in goods sales to the EU in January took place, with experts blaming Brexit for a large chunk of the lost exports.
Figures showed that 39 per cent thought Brexit had so far been bad for trade, against just 18 per cent who said it had been good, while 37 per cent rated it bad for the UK economy, compared to 25 per cent who said its effects have been beneficial.
https://uk.yahoo.com/news/brexit-news-live-exports-eu-081323114.html
When the British people narrowly voted to leave the EU in 2016, they did not give the government a mandate to wreck our economic and political relationship with Europe. When Boris Johnson won the general election in 2019, he was expected to forge workable new arrangements with the UK’s largest trading partner, not allow exporters to be strangled by red tape and ruinous extra costs. Nor was he given a green light to break legally binding promises.
When Johnson and his rightwing Leave campaign pals claimed to have “got Brexit done” on 31 January last year, they failed to say the patchwork agreement they signed had more holes in it than a Cumbrian coal mine. Johnson did not admit he had fudged crucial issues such as Northern Ireland’s borders, and sold out Britain’s fisheries, in order to claim a bogus victory.
Yet truth will out. Day by bleak day, the epic damage caused by this execrable deception, this shameful Conservative con, becomes ever more evident. No amount of Michael Gove spin can hide the facts. No amount of distortion of official statistics can conceal the harm. Feeble claims by David Frost, Brexit booster-in-chief, that Covid and EU hostility are to blame will not wash. It’s clear where responsibility lies. And “lies” is the operative word.
Johnson and his team cannot dissemble away alarming figures showing UK exports of goods to the EU plunged by 40.7% in January, caused in large part by Brexit bureaucracy, incompetence and delays. That’s a £5.6bn loss when the economy can least afford it. Exports of food and live animals were particularly badly hit, down by 63.6%. Producers of fish and shellfish, who Johnson personally pledged to protect, saw their exports collapse by 83% year on year.
EU exporters to the UK get a free ride while UK business continues to be handicapped by mountains of paperwork
Adding insult to injury, reciprocal import checks and controls on the UK side will remain absent until next year, Downing Street now confirms. In truth, the government could no longer conceal its abject failure to install necessary border infrastructure and computer systems. In practice, this means that EU exporters to the UK get a free ride while UK business continues to be handicapped by mountains of paperwork – as agreed by Johnson.
When the Observer first reported a Road Haulage Association survey early last month that indicated huge falls in exports, it was met by a misleading barrage of official obfuscation. Gove, the minister responsible, was subsequently rebuked by the UK Statistics Authority for making unverifiable rebuttals based on unpublished data. Typically for this government, Gove has failed to apologise or set the record straight.Forgive us for asking how this only-too-real trade fiasco squares with Johnson’s claim to have taken back control of Britain’s borders? What does the fact that Britain is now the ultimate EU rule-taker tell us about his boasts to have restored sovereignty? One thing is certain: it’s a potential disaster for jobs, investment, consumer prices and the balance of payments. And, make no mistake, this is no temporary hitch.
It’s not due to stockpiling, or lack of Covid jabs, or bad weather, or any other dreamt-up excuse. It’s the result of a fatally flawed, misconceived Brexit deal that is not, and never was, fit for purpose. The EU defends its own interests – no surprise there. What is shocking is how Johnson has failed to defend Britain’s. We cannot go on blaming the organisation we left for the problems we face as a result of opting to leave on the most damaging terms possible. And it will get worse later in the year, when additional EU export regulations are due to come in.
The debacle over Northern Ireland’s trade is more dismaying and dangerous. Always a botched job, it is now falling apart
The parallel debacle over Northern Ireland’s trading arrangements is, if anything, even more dismaying – and dangerous. Even after he broke his word to unionists by agreeing to a border in the Irish Sea, Johnson’s deal still cannot ensure frictionless, two-way trade while safeguarding the Good Friday peace agreement. It was always a botched job. Now, predictably, it is falling apart.
Yet what does our prime minister do? He shirks responsibility. He does not admit he misled the people of Northern Ireland and made promises to the EU that he never intended to honour. Instead, he tries to shift the legal goalposts, as he threatened last autumn by unilaterally suspending checks on goods imported from Great Britain for as long as he sees fit. It’s a blatant breach of the withdrawal agreement. But Johnson just does not care.
The EU does. It’s understandably furious over the government’s bad faith. Relations are now locked in a destructive downward spiral as the dispute heads to court. Once again, Johnson stands accused of dishonesty. Once again, old friends in Europe and the Joe Biden administration in the US wonder out loud whether Johnson’s Britain keeps its word. Once again, he has given succour to un-democratic foes in Russia and China.
Forget, for a minute, the dreadfully mangled, mismanaged morass that is Brexit. This is a question of trust as much as competence. It goes to the heart of the UK’s future international standing. It adversely affects hopes that “Global Britain” can successfully make its way as an independent power. The shaming truth is that just as the British people cannot trust Johnson to do the right thing, no more can the rest of the world.
Johnson’s biggest lie is now exposed for all to see. Brexit is not “done”. It’s not working. It’s not even Brexit.
https://www.msn.com/en-gb/money/other/the-observer-view-on-the-grim-effects-of-brexit-being-impossible-to-hide/ar-BB1ezhOq?ocid=msedgntp
When the British people narrowly voted to leave the EU in 2016, they did not give the government a mandate to wreck our economic and political relationship with Europe. When Boris Johnson won the general election in 2019, he was expected to forge workable new arrangements with the UK’s largest trading partner, not allow exporters to be strangled by red tape and ruinous extra costs. Nor was he given a green light to break legally binding promises.
When Johnson and his rightwing Leave campaign pals claimed to have “got Brexit done” on 31 January last year, they failed to say the patchwork agreement they signed had more holes in it than a Cumbrian coal mine. Johnson did not admit he had fudged crucial issues such as Northern Ireland’s borders, and sold out Britain’s fisheries, in order to claim a bogus victory.
Yet truth will out. Day by bleak day, the epic damage caused by this execrable deception, this shameful Conservative con, becomes ever more evident. No amount of Michael Gove spin can hide the facts. No amount of distortion of official statistics can conceal the harm. Feeble claims by David Frost, Brexit booster-in-chief, that Covid and EU hostility are to blame will not wash. It’s clear where responsibility lies. And “lies” is the operative word.
Johnson and his team cannot dissemble away alarming figures showing UK exports of goods to the EU plunged by 40.7% in January, caused in large part by Brexit bureaucracy, incompetence and delays. That’s a £5.6bn loss when the economy can least afford it. Exports of food and live animals were particularly badly hit, down by 63.6%. Producers of fish and shellfish, who Johnson personally pledged to protect, saw their exports collapse by 83% year on year.
EU exporters to the UK get a free ride while UK business continues to be handicapped by mountains of paperwork
Adding insult to injury, reciprocal import checks and controls on the UK side will remain absent until next year, Downing Street now confirms. In truth, the government could no longer conceal its abject failure to install necessary border infrastructure and computer systems. In practice, this means that EU exporters to the UK get a free ride while UK business continues to be handicapped by mountains of paperwork – as agreed by Johnson.
When the Observer first reported a Road Haulage Association survey early last month that indicated huge falls in exports, it was met by a misleading barrage of official obfuscation. Gove, the minister responsible, was subsequently rebuked by the UK Statistics Authority for making unverifiable rebuttals based on unpublished data. Typically for this government, Gove has failed to apologise or set the record straight.Forgive us for asking how this only-too-real trade fiasco squares with Johnson’s claim to have taken back control of Britain’s borders? What does the fact that Britain is now the ultimate EU rule-taker tell us about his boasts to have restored sovereignty? One thing is certain: it’s a potential disaster for jobs, investment, consumer prices and the balance of payments. And, make no mistake, this is no temporary hitch.
It’s not due to stockpiling, or lack of Covid jabs, or bad weather, or any other dreamt-up excuse. It’s the result of a fatally flawed, misconceived Brexit deal that is not, and never was, fit for purpose. The EU defends its own interests – no surprise there. What is shocking is how Johnson has failed to defend Britain’s. We cannot go on blaming the organisation we left for the problems we face as a result of opting to leave on the most damaging terms possible. And it will get worse later in the year, when additional EU export regulations are due to come in.
The debacle over Northern Ireland’s trade is more dismaying and dangerous. Always a botched job, it is now falling apart
The parallel debacle over Northern Ireland’s trading arrangements is, if anything, even more dismaying – and dangerous. Even after he broke his word to unionists by agreeing to a border in the Irish Sea, Johnson’s deal still cannot ensure frictionless, two-way trade while safeguarding the Good Friday peace agreement. It was always a botched job. Now, predictably, it is falling apart.
Yet what does our prime minister do? He shirks responsibility. He does not admit he misled the people of Northern Ireland and made promises to the EU that he never intended to honour. Instead, he tries to shift the legal goalposts, as he threatened last autumn by unilaterally suspending checks on goods imported from Great Britain for as long as he sees fit. It’s a blatant breach of the withdrawal agreement. But Johnson just does not care.
The EU does. It’s understandably furious over the government’s bad faith. Relations are now locked in a destructive downward spiral as the dispute heads to court. Once again, Johnson stands accused of dishonesty. Once again, old friends in Europe and the Joe Biden administration in the US wonder out loud whether Johnson’s Britain keeps its word. Once again, he has given succour to un-democratic foes in Russia and China.
Forget, for a minute, the dreadfully mangled, mismanaged morass that is Brexit. This is a question of trust as much as competence. It goes to the heart of the UK’s future international standing. It adversely affects hopes that “Global Britain” can successfully make its way as an independent power. The shaming truth is that just as the British people cannot trust Johnson to do the right thing, no more can the rest of the world.
Johnson’s biggest lie is now exposed for all to see. Brexit is not “done”. It’s not working. It’s not even Brexit.
https://www.msn.com/en-gb/money/other/the-observer-view-on-the-grim-effects-of-brexit-being-impossible-to-hide/ar-BB1ezhOq?ocid=msedgntp
Britain is set to make £20billion worth of divorce payments to the bloc over the next two years under the terms of exit, with more following in subsequent years. But during his visit to the Province last week, Mr Johnson admitted the Northern Ireland Protocol was not working as he expected.
Now, Mark Francois, the chairman of the 60-strong European Research Group of Conservative MPs, said the Prime Minister should stop these payments after the EU enforced regulations for UK exports.
He said: "Since we left the Transition Period the EU's attitude has been increasing bellicose.
"First they criticised our 'British' vaccine and then attacked us for not giving them enough of it; then they triggered Article 16, in some overnight spasm, to create a hard border they had sworn to avoid - and now they are petulantly refusing to ratify a trade deal which it took a year to negotiate.
"As Brits, we traditionally honour our obligations but you have to ask yourself why are we continuing to pay this 'Danegeld' to people who only treat us with open contempt in return?"
https://www.msn.com/en-gb/money/other/brexit-live-boris-johnson-told-to-stop-making-20billion-brexit-bill-payments-to-the-eu/ar-BB1eB1uo?ocid=msedgntp
https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/uknews/arrogant-and-pompous-snp-minister-cut-down-by-lord-frost-over-scathing-brexit-letter/ar-BB1eB7Yq?ocid=msedgntp
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-56361229
4881 comments
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Highest Rated
J
Comment posted by Jules, at 15:03 11 MarJules
15:03 11 Mar
How the **** were businesses supposed to be ready as per the government advertising when they had no idea what was coming. This is an utter mess which is going to cost us all (except the rich) massively in the long run.
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Reply posted by World Leading Shambles, at 15:29 11 MarWorld Leading Shambles
15:29 11 Mar
to Jules
"
How the **** were businesses supposed to be ready as per the government advertising when they had no idea what was coming. This is an utter mess which is going to cost us all (except the rich) massively in the long run.
"
World Leading Shambles replied:
The only Tory plan they've delivered on is to make the rich richer
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Comment posted by Border Collie, at 15:01 11 MarBorder Collie
15:01 11 Mar
The leaders of industry who employ millions in the UK warned Bozo the problems Brexit would cause, especially if its a bad deal and extra bureaucracy. But we all know the clown said "f*** business." This is what happens when you have an Eton buffoon as PM, who has no experience of the real world and lacks business knowledge 🙄
Bozo must have ate the “oven ready” 😂
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Reply posted by bpmkent, at 15:12 11 Marbpmkent
15:12 11 Mar
to Border Collie
"
The leaders of industry who employ millions in the UK warned Bozo the problems Brexit would cause, especially if its a bad deal and extra bureaucracy. But we all know the clown said "f*** business." This is what happens when you have an Eton buffoon as PM, who has no experience of the real world and lacks business knowledge 🙄 Bozo must have ate the “oven ready” 😂
"
bpmkent replied:
Ah, but that's working on the assumption this is to help businesses. It seems more likely that govt simply aren't prepared for the impact of delays at the borders, so are using covid as an excuse to buy themselves some time.
As you've pointed out, he's previously made his opinions about business very clear, and I doubt he's grown a conscience now.
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Comment posted by FauxGeordie, at 15:04 11 MarFauxGeordie
15:04 11 Mar
We'll take back control of our borders by errr... opening them.
What an utter shambles. Policy and implementation - money being hosed all over the place (no doubt to the usual gilded insiders)
Brexiters jeered at the idea that we'd be a centre for smuggling and people trafficking, now they are DEMANDING it.
Unbelievable. All predicted & in a lot of detail - & flatly denied by the Angry Grandads
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Comment posted by World Leading Shambles, at 15:03 11 MarWorld Leading Shambles
15:03 11 Mar
It's as if Johnson, Gove and Frost didn't have the slightest clue of what they were signing up to and how it would work on the ground with real businesses........
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Reply posted by U14012980, at 15:31 11 MarU14012980
15:31 11 Mar
to World Leading Shambles
"
It's as if Johnson, Gove and Frost didn't have the slightest clue of what they were signing up to and how it would work on the ground with real businesses........
"
U14012980 replied:
They had 4+ years to prepare... excuses now not acceptable.
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Comment posted by eggnogs, at 15:02 11 Mareggnogs
15:02 11 Mar
It would have helped if businesses were given more time to prepare rather than the 11th hour deal before Christmas and thrown into the abyss post Brexit on January 1st!
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Reply posted by Doug, at 15:17 11 MarDoug
15:17 11 Mar
to eggnogs
"
It would have helped if businesses were given more time to prepare rather than the 11th hour deal before Christmas and thrown into the abyss post Brexit on January 1st!
"
Doug replied:
But having an 11th hour and 59 minute deal was essential to avoid Parliamentary scrutiny, that would have exposed how bad the deal was.
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Reply posted by Andy P, at 15:20 11 MarAndy P
15:20 11 Mar
to r1404
"
So EU imports are given a free pass into GB whilst our exporters are hamstrung by Spaffers "great deal"Sometimes I think that our Govt does not have a clue what it is doing
"
Andy P replied:
It never did, Test and Trace!!??
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Comment posted by That_Ian, at 15:03 11 MarThat_Ian
15:03 11 Mar
"The UK has insisted the move is lawful and justified"
Yeah, of course it is. Ehem.
Party of the Rich blatant disregard for international rules is making a pariah out of the UK. Soon we will be begging anyone to do business, any business, with us.
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Reply posted by Doug, at 15:23 11 MarDoug
15:23 11 Mar
to That_Ian
"
"The UK has insisted the move is lawful and justified"Yeah, of course it is. Ehem.Party of the Rich blatant disregard for international rules is making a pariah out of the UK. Soon we will be begging anyone to do business, any business, with us.
"
Doug replied:
It is lawful and justified but also hugely disadvantages UK Exporters and hands a big advantage to EU exporters. It's almost as if they don't want Brexit to succeed so we can go back into the EU.
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Comment posted by micmac, at 15:06 11 Marmicmac
15:06 11 Mar
What a lie it was to say that our borders were ready for Brexit! Is this 'taking back control of our borders??
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Reply posted by Worried pensioner, at 15:22 11 MarWorried pensioner
15:22 11 Mar
to micmac
"
What a lie it was to say that our borders were ready for Brexit! Is this 'taking back control of our borders??
"
Worried pensioner replied:
The johnson never lies, does he?
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Comment posted by Skinnydog0_0, at 15:08 11 MarSkinnydog0_0
15:08 11 Mar
Hahahahaha- taking back control of our borders- hahahaha
Yes just wave it all through!
This Brexit is just a total sham.
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Reply posted by daniel webb, at 15:12 11 Mardaniel webb
15:12 11 Mar
to Skinnydog0_0
"
Hahahahaha- taking back control of our borders- hahahahaYes just wave it all through!This Brexit is just a total sham.
"
daniel webb replied:
Less trade barriers including checks during a pandemic / emergency is entirely consistent with taking back control of our borders. Because it is a decision made by the UK government we voted for.
Which anyway, you know borders meant freedom of movement ending.
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Comment posted by Popeye, at 15:05 11 MarPopeye
15:05 11 Mar
Why did boris sign the trade deal if he never intended to honour it?
Another ERG ruse to get their no-deal?
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Reply posted by RuralJohn, at 15:11 11 MarRuralJohn
15:11 11 Mar
to Popeye
"
Why did boris sign the trade deal if he never intended to honour it? Another ERG ruse to get their no-deal?
"
RuralJohn replied:
you have to remember that there is a whole shed load of wealthy individuals who have made an bsolute mint out of Brexit
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Comment posted by World Leading Shambles, at 15:04 11 MarWorld Leading Shambles
15:04 11 Mar
Ding.....
That's the sound of the oven ready deal being put in the chiller, clueless incompetence once again
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Reply posted by WHERE IS MY APOLOGY, at 15:09 11 MarWHERE IS MY APOLOGY
15:09 11 Mar
to World Leading Shambles
"
Ding.....That's the sound of the oven ready deal being put in the chiller, clueless incompetence once again
"
WHERE IS MY APOLOGY replied:
Ding......
That’s the sound of more Remoaning soundbites from a typical Remoaner who can’t get over the fact that we’ve left the corrupt EU and it’s failed project!
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Comment posted by bpmkent, at 15:08 11 Marbpmkent
15:08 11 Mar
Johnson & co must be so glad for covid - they can blame all their failings around Brexit on covd & take no personal responsibility.
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Reply posted by r1404, at 15:17 11 Marr1404
15:17 11 Mar
to bpmkent
"
Johnson & co must be so glad for covid - they can blame all their failings around Brexit on covd & take no personal responsibility.
"
r1404 replied:
Spaffer would not accept reposibility Covid or not
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Comment posted by Koopa Troopa, at 15:05 11 MarKoopa Troopa
15:05 11 Mar
He could easily have signed an extension but the evil empire of the ERG would never have accepted that and would have made his life a misery had he tried. So, as well as export issues, we don’t have the resources to examine incoming goods. Take back control they said 🤣
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Reply posted by sw, at 17:26 11 Marsw
17:26 11 Mar
to Koopa Troopa
"
He could easily have signed an extension but the evil empire of the ERG would never have accepted that and would have made his life a misery had he tried. So, as well as export issues, we don’t have the resources to examine incoming goods. Take back control they said 🤣
"
sw replied:
Drugrunners charter.
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