1. Why does the EU have to make things so difficult for the British Isles (for want of a better term) in relation to Northern Ireland? When we were in the EU, there were no similar restrictions imposed to the parts of the British Isles that were not in the EU, such as The Channel Islands or the Isle of Man. Similarly, the Canary Islands seem to have all sorts of exemptions, allowing them to be in or out of the EU whenever it suits. It's almost as though the EU is being sulky and vindictive.
2. The various bits about petrol prices in this thread. There are only 3 significant oil exporters/producers in the Continent of Europe. Russia, Norway, and the UK. None of which are in the EU. Being in or out of the EU is irrelevant to pricing. The simple reasons why petrol is expensive in this country are because of the taxes we impose and the pandemic.
On the second point, @TheEdge949 was claiming that cheaper petrol was a Brexit benefit. Yet according to the RAC that is not the case, and as you quite rightly say, it is irrelevant anyway.
On the first point people in this country never seem to tire of blaming the EU for anything that is bad or goes wrong.
The NI problems are created by Brexit, rather than the protocol. Although the protocol is an agreement that we signed only a matter of months ago. Yet here you are criticising the EU for insisting that we implement the rules that have been agreed. Boris wants the penny and the bun. We had a very clear choice of close alignment, or new rules. We chose the new rules, but now we dont like them. The EU have offered to eliminate 80% of the border checks if we were prepared to align more closely. We didnt want that, and we dont like the rules that we have agreed to either.
It is unfortunate that we have a PM that lives in cloud cuckoo land.
Boris invented the NI protocol when he binned the backstop. We havent even implemented all the rules yet, as we are still in the grace period. The number of problems are likely to increase as we diverge from EU rules, and the grace periods end.
Boris billed the situation in NI as the best of both worlds.
We created a customs border in the Irish Sea. A customs border is usually somewhere where checks are carried out. In fact what would be the point of having a customs border if no checks were carried out.
We seem to be trivialising the debate by saying it is about sausages, when really it isnt.
How can you just blame one side, when there was an agreement? All the EU seem to want is for us to implement the rules that we have agreed to.
It is not as simple as you would wish.
I agree that Boris knew fine well that his "solution" for Northern Ireland was little different from May's deal. Better polished, better packaged to fool from afar, but still a ****.
Thing is-what option did he have? The UK population voted to leave, and then voted Boris in big time to affirm rejection of the Customs Union. Politically, given the options open to him, he had no realistic alternative.
Whereas the EU had far more options. They could have shown the flexibility shown to the Canary Islands, to Liechtenstein, to Scandinavia, to Monaco. They could have come up with a solution that helped Ireland and Northern Ireland. One that suited its Members. Instead of what they did choose-the option that suited the institution of the EU.
The Irish Sea border was created by BOTH the EU and the UK. And demonstrates why, politically, I trust the EU exactly as much as this Government.
If we had a back to the future car, and we could arrive in January 2025, how do you think we would deal with the problem? Lets say there is a Unionist majority in Stormont. They have voted against the arrangements. A new agreement has to be negotiated. We have lowered food standards through trade deals with Australia, and the US. More border checks, and increased levels of paperwork are required. This results in further increased costs. The EU still wish to protect the single market. We still want to control our borders. Violent protests in NI have increased.
What next? Will we still be blaming the EU?
The Brexit that Boris chose is the problem, not the protocol. This Brexit created the need for a border. Where else could it go? The border checks will create problems. Without a land border in Ireland, NI will be treated differently from the rest of the UK.
Brexit: EU warns UK over Irish Sea border goods checks
The EU has warned the UK not to take any further unilateral action to delay post-Brexit checks on products entering Northern Ireland from Britain.
The warning came from the European Commission's vice president.
Maros Sefcovic said the EU "will not be shy in reacting swiftly, firmly and resolutely to ensure that the UK abides by its international law obligations".
It comes as the two sides prepare to meet to assess possible simplifications of the Northern Ireland Protocol.
The protocol is the part of the Brexit deal that created a trade border in the Irish Sea, in order to prevent goods checks along the Irish land border.
The 2019 deal kept Northern Ireland in the EU single market for goods and means EU customs rules are now enforced at its ports.
It was agreed that the checks would be phased in through the use of so-called "grace periods".
But earlier this year the UK unilaterally extended and enhanced some of these grace periods.
At the risk of being labelled shortsighted, I like many others are still waiting for the effects of brexit to impact my everyday life.
My trips to the offy, the kebab shop and the chippy cost no more. The fuel my car uses is actually cheaper at £1.18, clothes and supermarket costs haven't increased and it would appear that the banks have not collapsed taking the money with them.
So for me and presumably millions like me the only effects of brexit are...... there are no effects.
In fact, whisper it quietly, it would appear the effects on the other side of The English Channel are causing consternation and alarm.
At the risk of being labelled shortsighted, I like many others are still waiting for the effects of brexit to impact my everyday life.
My trips to the offy, the kebab shop and the chippy cost no more. The fuel my car uses is actually cheaper at £1.18, clothes and supermarket costs haven't increased and it would appear that the banks have not collapsed taking the money with them.
So for me and presumably millions like me the only effects of brexit are...... there are no effects.
In fact, whisper it quietly, it would appear the effects on the other side of The English Channel are causing consternation and alarm.
Ironic that the guy narrating either can't speak English very well or can't read English very well.
If he is British I suggest he spends less time taking the p1ss out of people when quite clearly he's lacking skills in key areas and concentrates on learning how to communicate.
If he isn't then I suggest he f**** off and minds his own business.
And finally, everybody knows that Mr. Weatherspoons is a complete nob. The way he behaved during lockdown proves that.
Also there are plenty of people, usually students, who are willing to work at his establishments. One of my younger Church collegues is a manager at a Weatherspoons and says its the inflexability and rigidity of the shift systems used by the company that make it almost impossible to work.
Calling for this Visa thing is obviously his attempt to divert attention away from his own shortcomings as an employer as well as exposing him to be a total tool.
In fact with people like this spearheading the leave campaign its a miracle we ever won.
At the risk of being labelled shortsighted, I like many others are still waiting for the effects of brexit to impact my everyday life.
My trips to the offy, the kebab shop and the chippy cost no more. The fuel my car uses is actually cheaper at £1.18, clothes and supermarket costs haven't increased and it would appear that the banks have not collapsed taking the money with them.
So for me and presumably millions like me the only effects of brexit are...... there are no effects.
In fact, whisper it quietly, it would appear the effects on the other side of The English Channel are causing consternation and alarm.
Ironic that the guy narrating either can't speak English very well or can't read English very well.
If he is British I suggest he spends less time taking the p1ss out of people when quite clearly he's lacking skills in key areas and concentrates on learning how to communicate.
If he isn't then I suggest he f**** off and minds his own business.
And finally, everybody knows that Mr. Weatherspoons is a complete nob. The way he behaved during lockdown proves that.
Also there are plenty of people, usually students, who are willing to work at his establishments. One of my younger Church collegues is a manager at a Weatherspoons and says its the inflexability and rigidity of the shift systems used by the company that make it almost impossible to work.
Calling for this Visa thing is obviously his attempt to divert attention away from his own shortcomings as an employer as well as exposing him to be a total tool.
In fact with people like this spearheading the leave campaign its a miracle we ever won.
1. Why does the EU have to make things so difficult for the British Isles (for want of a better term) in relation to Northern Ireland? When we were in the EU, there were no similar restrictions imposed to the parts of the British Isles that were not in the EU, such as The Channel Islands or the Isle of Man. Similarly, the Canary Islands seem to have all sorts of exemptions, allowing them to be in or out of the EU whenever it suits. It's almost as though the EU is being sulky and vindictive.
2. The various bits about petrol prices in this thread. There are only 3 significant oil exporters/producers in the Continent of Europe. Russia, Norway, and the UK. None of which are in the EU. Being in or out of the EU is irrelevant to pricing. The simple reasons why petrol is expensive in this country are because of the taxes we impose and the pandemic.
On the second point, @TheEdge949 was claiming that cheaper petrol was a Brexit benefit. Yet according to the RAC that is not the case, and as you quite rightly say, it is irrelevant anyway.
On the first point people in this country never seem to tire of blaming the EU for anything that is bad or goes wrong.
The NI problems are created by Brexit, rather than the protocol. Although the protocol is an agreement that we signed only a matter of months ago. Yet here you are criticising the EU for insisting that we implement the rules that have been agreed. Boris wants the penny and the bun. We had a very clear choice of close alignment, or new rules. We chose the new rules, but now we dont like them. The EU have offered to eliminate 80% of the border checks if we were prepared to align more closely. We didnt want that, and we dont like the rules that we have agreed to either.
It is unfortunate that we have a PM that lives in cloud cuckoo land.
Boris invented the NI protocol when he binned the backstop. We havent even implemented all the rules yet, as we are still in the grace period. The number of problems are likely to increase as we diverge from EU rules, and the grace periods end.
Boris billed the situation in NI as the best of both worlds.
We created a customs border in the Irish Sea. A customs border is usually somewhere where checks are carried out. In fact what would be the point of having a customs border if no checks were carried out.
We seem to be trivialising the debate by saying it is about sausages, when really it isnt.
How can you just blame one side, when there was an agreement? All the EU seem to want is for us to implement the rules that we have agreed to.
It is not as simple as you would wish.
I agree that Boris knew fine well that his "solution" for Northern Ireland was little different from May's deal. Better polished, better packaged to fool from afar, but still a ****.
Thing is-what option did he have? The UK population voted to leave, and then voted Boris in big time to affirm rejection of the Customs Union. Politically, given the options open to him, he had no realistic alternative.
Whereas the EU had far more options. They could have shown the flexibility shown to the Canary Islands, to Liechtenstein, to Scandinavia, to Monaco. They could have come up with a solution that helped Ireland and Northern Ireland. One that suited its Members. Instead of what they did choose-the option that suited the institution of the EU.
The Irish Sea border was created by BOTH the EU and the UK. And demonstrates why, politically, I trust the EU exactly as much as this Government.
Conservative MPs have been left outraged by the decision to issue Britain with a demarche - a formal diplomatic dressing-down - over tensions in Northern Ireland. America's top US diplomat in the UK, Yael Lempert, issued the rebuke to Lord Frost earlier this month, accusing the Government of rhetoric that risked undermining the Good Friday Agreement.
The US has indicated if the UK accepted demands to follow EU rules on agricultural standards, Mr Biden would ensure that it would not risk undermining chances of a US free trade deal.
The formal rebuke has set the mood for discussions between Mr Johnson and Mr Biden later today.
Yesterday the President's national security adviser Jake Sullivan said it was "critical" the Good Friday agreement was not undermined by the fallout from Brexit.
He said: "President Biden believes and has said that the Northern Ireland Protocol, as part of the agreement between the UK and the European Union, is critical to ensuring that the spirit, promise and future of the Good Friday Agreement is protected.
"That being said, of course the UK and EU need to work out the specifics and the modalities on that, need to find some way to proceed that works both for the EU and the UK.
"But whatever way they find to proceed must, at its core, fundamentally protect the gains of the Good Friday Agreement and not imperil that."
Yeah cos the Americans never encouraged the raising of funds for a terrorist organisation. Neither did they permit guns, drugs, cash and people to pass unhindered through their borders in the name of the Great struggle. Tell em to F*** Off
1. Why does the EU have to make things so difficult for the British Isles (for want of a better term) in relation to Northern Ireland? When we were in the EU, there were no similar restrictions imposed to the parts of the British Isles that were not in the EU, such as The Channel Islands or the Isle of Man. Similarly, the Canary Islands seem to have all sorts of exemptions, allowing them to be in or out of the EU whenever it suits. It's almost as though the EU is being sulky and vindictive.
2. The various bits about petrol prices in this thread. There are only 3 significant oil exporters/producers in the Continent of Europe. Russia, Norway, and the UK. None of which are in the EU. Being in or out of the EU is irrelevant to pricing. The simple reasons why petrol is expensive in this country are because of the taxes we impose and the pandemic.
On the second point, @TheEdge949 was claiming that cheaper petrol was a Brexit benefit. Yet according to the RAC that is not the case, and as you quite rightly say, it is irrelevant anyway.
On the first point people in this country never seem to tire of blaming the EU for anything that is bad or goes wrong.
The NI problems are created by Brexit, rather than the protocol. Although the protocol is an agreement that we signed only a matter of months ago. Yet here you are criticising the EU for insisting that we implement the rules that have been agreed. Boris wants the penny and the bun. We had a very clear choice of close alignment, or new rules. We chose the new rules, but now we dont like them. The EU have offered to eliminate 80% of the border checks if we were prepared to align more closely. We didnt want that, and we dont like the rules that we have agreed to either.
It is unfortunate that we have a PM that lives in cloud cuckoo land.
Boris invented the NI protocol when he binned the backstop. We havent even implemented all the rules yet, as we are still in the grace period. The number of problems are likely to increase as we diverge from EU rules, and the grace periods end.
Boris billed the situation in NI as the best of both worlds.
We created a customs border in the Irish Sea. A customs border is usually somewhere where checks are carried out. In fact what would be the point of having a customs border if no checks were carried out.
We seem to be trivialising the debate by saying it is about sausages, when really it isnt.
How can you just blame one side, when there was an agreement? All the EU seem to want is for us to implement the rules that we have agreed to.
It is not as simple as you would wish.
I agree that Boris knew fine well that his "solution" for Northern Ireland was little different from May's deal. Better polished, better packaged to fool from afar, but still a ****.
Thing is-what option did he have? The UK population voted to leave, and then voted Boris in big time to affirm rejection of the Customs Union. Politically, given the options open to him, he had no realistic alternative.
Whereas the EU had far more options. They could have shown the flexibility shown to the Canary Islands, to Liechtenstein, to Scandinavia, to Monaco. They could have come up with a solution that helped Ireland and Northern Ireland. One that suited its Members. Instead of what they did choose-the option that suited the institution of the EU.
The Irish Sea border was created by BOTH the EU and the UK. And demonstrates why, politically, I trust the EU exactly as much as this Government.
'We've bent over backwards!' VDL loses cool over Brexit row - showdown this week
"We've bent over backwards for years to find a solution on that. We agreed with the United Kingdom that the Protocol was the only solution ensuring the absence of a hard border on Northern Ireland.
"We've been really debating that since years and we've found the one and only solution."
But Brussels fears Downing Street is about to disregard chunks of the Protocol to avoid a hard border.
EU Commission vice-president Maros Sefcovic said: "If the UK were to take further unilateral action in the coming weeks the EU will not be shy in acting swiftly, firmly and resolutely to ensure the UK abides by its international obligations."
This could mean legal action, arbitration or retaliatory trade measures such as tariffs, The Brussels chief said.
The EU says without an agreement by July 1, there should be no fresh meat that is shipped from mainland Britain to Northern Ireland.
Yeah cos the Americans never encouraged the raising of funds for a terrorist organisation. Neither did they permit guns, drugs, cash and people to pass unhindered through their borders in the name of the Great struggle. Tell em to F*** Off
We would be completely safe from the threat of chlorine washed chicken, hormone fed beef, and GM crops, if you were leading the trade negotiations.
Yeah cos the Americans never encouraged the raising of funds for a terrorist organisation. Neither did they permit guns, drugs, cash and people to pass unhindered through their borders in the name of the Great struggle. Tell em to F*** Off
We would be completely safe from the threat of chlorine washed chicken, hormone fed beef, and GM crops, if you were leading the trade negotiations.
But this also shows the unnecessary inflexibility of the EU's position.
In theory, we could sign trade deals with countries that do not conform to EU safety standards for food. In theory, we could fail to conform to the various worker safety standards.
If the EU were to say that the minute we diverge on either of the above, we could not export to Northern Ireland without border checks, I could understand their position.
But-we haven't. There is no evidence to show wholesale transfers of sausages etc being transferred to Ireland. It's just unnecessarily penalising the people of Northern Ireland.
Compare and contrast with other borders. So-for example-if you are deemed to be some distance from Mainland Europe, you get all sorts of exemptions. So-for example-Spanish firms based in the Canaries are exempt from having to charge VAT.
There are 43 land borders between EU and non-EU countries. And precisely none of them have the same restrictions as those imposed on Northern Ireland.
PS. Favourite trivia question in a while:-
Which country has the longest land border with France?
Germany? Spain? No-it is actually Brazil (as French Guiana is part of France and in the EU)
Yeah cos the Americans never encouraged the raising of funds for a terrorist organisation. Neither did they permit guns, drugs, cash and people to pass unhindered through their borders in the name of the Great struggle. Tell em to F*** Off
We would be completely safe from the threat of chlorine washed chicken, hormone fed beef, and GM crops, if you were leading the trade negotiations.
Erm. No but maybe I wouldn't have lost close friends due to the constant fundraising in Boston and NY by slimy Paddy Yanks in bars saying "A dollar buys a bullet. A dollar kills a squaddie".
My point is America are the last people to have any input into Northern Ireland because for decades they directly funded the violence, permitted the funding and often tacitly approved the end result.
Biden should shut his f****** mouth on the whole issue or else go back in time and patrol the cruds around XMG
Sorry for the rant but it's very close to home.
As for the food issue Tony perhaps it doesn't really matter, I've eaten that much s*** during my life it all tastes the same buddy.
Yeah cos the Americans never encouraged the raising of funds for a terrorist organisation. Neither did they permit guns, drugs, cash and people to pass unhindered through their borders in the name of the Great struggle. Tell em to F*** Off
We would be completely safe from the threat of chlorine washed chicken, hormone fed beef, and GM crops, if you were leading the trade negotiations.
Erm. No but maybe I wouldn't have lost close friends due to the constant fundraising in Boston and NY by slimy Paddy Yanks in bars saying "A dollar buys a bullet. A dollar kills a squaddie".
My point is America are the last people to have any input into Northern Ireland because for decades they directly funded the violence, permitted the funding and often tacitly approved the end result.
Biden should shut his f****** mouth on the whole issue or else go back in time and patrol the cruds around XMG
Sorry for the rant but it's very close to home.
As for the food issue Tony perhaps it doesn't really matter, I've eaten that much s*** during my life it all tastes the same buddy.
My comment was obviously an attempt at a bit of humour.
Yeah cos the Americans never encouraged the raising of funds for a terrorist organisation. Neither did they permit guns, drugs, cash and people to pass unhindered through their borders in the name of the Great struggle. Tell em to F*** Off
We would be completely safe from the threat of chlorine washed chicken, hormone fed beef, and GM crops, if you were leading the trade negotiations.
But this also shows the unnecessary inflexibility of the EU's position.
In theory, we could sign trade deals with countries that do not conform to EU safety standards for food. In theory, we could fail to conform to the various worker safety standards.
If the EU were to say that the minute we diverge on either of the above, we could not export to Northern Ireland without border checks, I could understand their position.
But-we haven't. There is no evidence to show wholesale transfers of sausages etc being transferred to Ireland. It's just unnecessarily penalising the people of Northern Ireland.
Compare and contrast with other borders. So-for example-if you are deemed to be some distance from Mainland Europe, you get all sorts of exemptions. So-for example-Spanish firms based in the Canaries are exempt from having to charge VAT.
There are 43 land borders between EU and non-EU countries. And precisely none of them have the same restrictions as those imposed on Northern Ireland.
PS. Favourite trivia question in a while:-
Which country has the longest land border with France?
Germany? Spain? No-it is actually Brazil (as French Guiana is part of France and in the EU)
Only a British person could point to an agreement that we have signed, and then blame the other side when things go wrong.
I think that the fact that the EU have allowed NI to remain in the single market/customs union points to the EUs flexibility.
We were members for almost 50 years, and it is my understanding that they only wish to implement their existing rules, rather than any new rules that they have made up with the intention of harming the UK.
They are merely asking us to implement rules, and regulations that we have agreed to.
Boris on the other hand has breached International Law on a number of occasions, as well as unilaterally extending grace periods.
Surely if we had issues with the rules, we should have renegotiated them prior to signing the agreement.
The UK/NI situation is unique, and any comparison between this and the Canaries is surely invalid, from a geographical , as well as the trade volume point of view.
Leaving the EU meant that we became a third country.
Leaving the EU also meant creating a customs border, between the EU/UK.
Creating a customs border meant more checks on goods, extra costs, and increased levels of paperwork.
All this was dependant upon how closely we intended to align with the EU.
We seem to be demanding the best of both worlds, we have signed an agreement based on divergence, but are demanding the benefits associated with alignment.
What happened to the best of both worlds argument, where NI surely gains an advantage from single market/customs union membership.
You seem to have adopted a "blame the EU" stance and then attempted to come up with a very weak argument for defending the indefensible.
Some border checks were required while we were members.
Yeah cos the Americans never encouraged the raising of funds for a terrorist organisation. Neither did they permit guns, drugs, cash and people to pass unhindered through their borders in the name of the Great struggle. Tell em to F*** Off
We would be completely safe from the threat of chlorine washed chicken, hormone fed beef, and GM crops, if you were leading the trade negotiations.
Erm. No but maybe I wouldn't have lost close friends due to the constant fundraising in Boston and NY by slimy Paddy Yanks in bars saying "A dollar buys a bullet. A dollar kills a squaddie".
My point is America are the last people to have any input into Northern Ireland because for decades they directly funded the violence, permitted the funding and often tacitly approved the end result.
Biden should shut his f****** mouth on the whole issue or else go back in time and patrol the cruds around XMG
Sorry for the rant but it's very close to home.
As for the food issue Tony perhaps it doesn't really matter, I've eaten that much s*** during my life it all tastes the same buddy.
My comment was obviously an attempt at a bit of humour.
I wont comment further.
Sorry for not seeing the humour, it's actually quite funny when you view it in that context.
Yeah cos the Americans never encouraged the raising of funds for a terrorist organisation. Neither did they permit guns, drugs, cash and people to pass unhindered through their borders in the name of the Great struggle. Tell em to F*** Off
We would be completely safe from the threat of chlorine washed chicken, hormone fed beef, and GM crops, if you were leading the trade negotiations.
Erm. No but maybe I wouldn't have lost close friends due to the constant fundraising in Boston and NY by slimy Paddy Yanks in bars saying "A dollar buys a bullet. A dollar kills a squaddie".
My point is America are the last people to have any input into Northern Ireland because for decades they directly funded the violence, permitted the funding and often tacitly approved the end result.
Biden should shut his f****** mouth on the whole issue or else go back in time and patrol the cruds around XMG
Sorry for the rant but it's very close to home.
As for the food issue Tony perhaps it doesn't really matter, I've eaten that much s*** during my life it all tastes the same buddy.
My comment was obviously an attempt at a bit of humour.
I wont comment further.
Sorry for not seeing the humour, it's actually quite funny when you view it in that context.
I can see why it might not seem funny when taken in another context.
The Times reports that EU leaders attending the G7 summit in Cornwall are to threaten Mr Johnson with a "trade war" in the ongoing row about post-Brexit arrangements for Northern Ireland.
It says they're prepared to impose tariffs on UK exports to the EU, unless the prime minister sticks to the agreement signed in December.
Downing Street is quoted saying he will dismiss the "diplomatic offensive".
At the risk of being labelled shortsighted, I like many others are still waiting for the effects of brexit to impact my everyday life.
My trips to the offy, the kebab shop and the chippy cost no more. The fuel my car uses is actually cheaper at £1.18, clothes and supermarket costs haven't increased and it would appear that the banks have not collapsed taking the money with them.
So for me and presumably millions like me the only effects of brexit are...... there are no effects.
In fact, whisper it quietly, it would appear the effects on the other side of The English Channel are causing consternation and alarm.
Ironic that the guy narrating either can't speak English very well or can't read English very well.
If he is British I suggest he spends less time taking the p1ss out of people when quite clearly he's lacking skills in key areas and concentrates on learning how to communicate.
If he isn't then I suggest he f**** off and minds his own business.
And finally, everybody knows that Mr. Weatherspoons is a complete nob. The way he behaved during lockdown proves that.
Also there are plenty of people, usually students, who are willing to work at his establishments. One of my younger Church collegues is a manager at a Weatherspoons and says its the inflexability and rigidity of the shift systems used by the company that make it almost impossible to work.
Calling for this Visa thing is obviously his attempt to divert attention away from his own shortcomings as an employer as well as exposing him to be a total tool.
In fact with people like this spearheading the leave campaign its a miracle we ever won.
It is.
UK steel industry fury as government drops EU import restrictions
The government has announced that it will remove limits inherited from the EU on about half of the UK’s steel imports, in a move that provoked fury from British producers.
The Trade Remedies Authority (TRA) said on Friday that it would revoke the limits on nine categories of steel product, including some bars and wires, meaning imports will no longer face steep tariffs after quotas are filled. It extended limits for three years on another 10 products, including some steel for railways, gas pipes and large sheets.
The EU introduced the limits in 2019 to protect the industry from a glut of steel products diverted from the US after Donald Trump imposed tariffs.
The TRA is part of the Department for International Trade, run by Liz Truss. She has to sign off on the authority’s recommendations, but she is expected to accept them.
Gareth Stace, the director general the industry lobby group UK Steel, said the decision was a “hammer blow” and “utter madness” that would leave UK producers vulnerable to import surges.
“On their first major test in a post-Brexit trading environment, the UK’s new system has failed our domestic steel sector,” he said.
Comments
Lets say there is a Unionist majority in Stormont.
They have voted against the arrangements.
A new agreement has to be negotiated.
We have lowered food standards through trade deals with Australia, and the US.
More border checks, and increased levels of paperwork are required.
This results in further increased costs.
The EU still wish to protect the single market.
We still want to control our borders.
Violent protests in NI have increased.
What next?
Will we still be blaming the EU?
The Brexit that Boris chose is the problem, not the protocol.
This Brexit created the need for a border.
Where else could it go?
The border checks will create problems.
Without a land border in Ireland, NI will be treated differently from the rest of the UK.
The EU has warned the UK not to take any further unilateral action to delay post-Brexit checks on products entering Northern Ireland from Britain.
The warning came from the European Commission's vice president.
Maros Sefcovic said the EU "will not be shy in reacting swiftly, firmly and resolutely to ensure that the UK abides by its international law obligations".
It comes as the two sides prepare to meet to assess possible simplifications of the Northern Ireland Protocol.
The protocol is the part of the Brexit deal that created a trade border in the Irish Sea, in order to prevent goods checks along the Irish land border.
The 2019 deal kept Northern Ireland in the EU single market for goods and means EU customs rules are now enforced at its ports.
It was agreed that the checks would be phased in through the use of so-called "grace periods".
But earlier this year the UK unilaterally extended and enhanced some of these grace periods.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-57388414
If he is British I suggest he spends less time taking the p1ss out of people when quite clearly he's lacking skills in key areas and concentrates on learning how to communicate.
If he isn't then I suggest he f**** off and minds his own business.
And finally, everybody knows that Mr. Weatherspoons is a complete nob. The way he behaved during lockdown proves that.
Also there are plenty of people, usually students, who are willing to work at his establishments. One of my younger Church collegues is a manager at a Weatherspoons and says its the inflexability and rigidity of the shift systems used by the company that make it almost impossible to work.
Calling for this Visa thing is obviously his attempt to divert attention away from his own shortcomings as an employer as well as exposing him to be a total tool.
In fact with people like this spearheading the leave campaign its a miracle we ever won.
The US has indicated if the UK accepted demands to follow EU rules on agricultural standards, Mr Biden would ensure that it would not risk undermining chances of a US free trade deal.
The formal rebuke has set the mood for discussions between Mr Johnson and Mr Biden later today.
Yesterday the President's national security adviser Jake Sullivan said it was "critical" the Good Friday agreement was not undermined by the fallout from Brexit.
He said: "President Biden believes and has said that the Northern Ireland Protocol, as part of the agreement between the UK and the European Union, is critical to ensuring that the spirit, promise and future of the Good Friday Agreement is protected.
"That being said, of course the UK and EU need to work out the specifics and the modalities on that, need to find some way to proceed that works both for the EU and the UK.
"But whatever way they find to proceed must, at its core, fundamentally protect the gains of the Good Friday Agreement and not imperil that."
https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/world/he-s-going-senile-he-s-lost-the-plot-joe-biden-s-brexit-meddling-sparks-tory-outrage/ar-AAKTD1y?ocid=msedgntp
"We've bent over backwards for years to find a solution on that. We agreed with the United Kingdom that the Protocol was the only solution ensuring the absence of a hard border on Northern Ireland.
"We've been really debating that since years and we've found the one and only solution."
But Brussels fears Downing Street is about to disregard chunks of the Protocol to avoid a hard border.
EU Commission vice-president Maros Sefcovic said: "If the UK were to take further unilateral action in the coming weeks the EU will not be shy in acting swiftly, firmly and resolutely to ensure the UK abides by its international obligations."
This could mean legal action, arbitration or retaliatory trade measures such as tariffs, The Brussels chief said.
The EU says without an agreement by July 1, there should be no fresh meat that is shipped from mainland Britain to Northern Ireland.
https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/world/we-ve-bent-over-backwards-vdl-loses-cool-over-brexit-row-showdown-this-week/ar-AAKTpjq?ocid=msedgntp
In theory, we could sign trade deals with countries that do not conform to EU safety standards for food.
In theory, we could fail to conform to the various worker safety standards.
If the EU were to say that the minute we diverge on either of the above, we could not export to Northern Ireland without border checks, I could understand their position.
But-we haven't. There is no evidence to show wholesale transfers of sausages etc being transferred to Ireland. It's just unnecessarily penalising the people of Northern Ireland.
Compare and contrast with other borders. So-for example-if you are deemed to be some distance from Mainland Europe, you get all sorts of exemptions. So-for example-Spanish firms based in the Canaries are exempt from having to charge VAT.
There are 43 land borders between EU and non-EU countries. And precisely none of them have the same restrictions as those imposed on Northern Ireland.
PS. Favourite trivia question in a while:-
Which country has the longest land border with France?
Germany? Spain? No-it is actually Brazil (as French Guiana is part of France and in the EU)
My point is America are the last people to have any input into Northern Ireland because for decades they directly funded the violence, permitted the funding and often tacitly approved the end result.
Biden should shut his f****** mouth on the whole issue or else go back in time and patrol the cruds around XMG
Sorry for the rant but it's very close to home.
As for the food issue Tony perhaps it doesn't really matter, I've eaten that much s*** during my life it all tastes the same buddy.
I wont comment further.
I think that the fact that the EU have allowed NI to remain in the single market/customs union points to the EUs flexibility.
We were members for almost 50 years, and it is my understanding that they only wish to implement their existing rules, rather than any new rules that they have made up with the intention of harming the UK.
They are merely asking us to implement rules, and regulations that we have agreed to.
Boris on the other hand has breached International Law on a number of occasions, as well as unilaterally extending grace periods.
Surely if we had issues with the rules, we should have renegotiated them prior to signing the agreement.
The UK/NI situation is unique, and any comparison between this and the Canaries is surely invalid, from a geographical , as well as the trade volume point of view.
Leaving the EU meant that we became a third country.
Leaving the EU also meant creating a customs border, between the EU/UK.
Creating a customs border meant more checks on goods, extra costs, and increased levels of paperwork.
All this was dependant upon how closely we intended to align with the EU.
We seem to be demanding the best of both worlds, we have signed an agreement based on divergence, but are demanding the benefits associated with alignment.
What happened to the best of both worlds argument, where NI surely gains an advantage from single market/customs union membership.
You seem to have adopted a "blame the EU" stance and then attempted to come up with a very weak argument for defending the indefensible.
Some border checks were required while we were members.
The Times reports that EU leaders attending the G7 summit in Cornwall are to threaten Mr Johnson with a "trade war" in the ongoing row about post-Brexit arrangements for Northern Ireland.
It says they're prepared to impose tariffs on UK exports to the EU, unless the prime minister sticks to the agreement signed in December.
Downing Street is quoted saying he will dismiss the "diplomatic offensive".
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/blogs-the-papers-57449963
The government has announced that it will remove limits inherited from the EU on about half of the UK’s steel imports, in a move that provoked fury from British producers.
The Trade Remedies Authority (TRA) said on Friday that it would revoke the limits on nine categories of steel product, including some bars and wires, meaning imports will no longer face steep tariffs after quotas are filled. It extended limits for three years on another 10 products, including some steel for railways, gas pipes and large sheets.
The EU introduced the limits in 2019 to protect the industry from a glut of steel products diverted from the US after Donald Trump imposed tariffs.
The TRA is part of the Department for International Trade, run by Liz Truss. She has to sign off on the authority’s recommendations, but she is expected to accept them.
Gareth Stace, the director general the industry lobby group UK Steel, said the decision was a “hammer blow” and “utter madness” that would leave UK producers vulnerable to import surges.
“On their first major test in a post-Brexit trading environment, the UK’s new system has failed our domestic steel sector,” he said.
https://www.msn.com/en-gb/money/news/uk-steel-industry-fury-as-government-drops-eu-import-restrictions/ar-AAKWGku?ocid=msedgntp