Who Will Fix the Northern Ireland Problem?

 

by Louise Mclean

For the past couple of years, Northern Ireland has been in limbo, due to the very restrictive rules of the Northern Ireland Protocol signed by Boris Johnson as part of the Brexit withdrawal agreement legislation.  Currently the rules which affect trade with mainland Britain are still going through a 'grace period' due to end shortly. 

Over the past few months the Assembly in Stormont has been shut down by the Democratic Ulster Party, who refuse to allow it to operate until this has been sorted out. It has been effectively without an executive since February 2022.

The Northern Ireland Protocol Bill was introduced on 13 June 2022 and has just gone through Parliament.  It would alter the wording and override parts of the Protocol affecting trade and it has yet to make its difficult passage through the pro-EU House of Lords.  It will not radically change the problems that need solving.

Brandon Lewis, the Northern Secretary, said that the Bill was designed to make the free flow of goods as easy between Northern Ireland and Britain, 'as from Great Yarmouth to Carlisle'.  Right now the problems are so bad, that many companies on mainland Britain are simply no longer sending their goods there, due to massive EU bureaucracy and paperwork.

Yesterday Lord David Trimble died. He had served as the First Minister of Northern Ireland and helped draft the Belfast Agreement (or Good Friday Agreement) in 1998, for which he received the Nobel Prize.  

Former Brexit Party MEP, Ben Habib has been involved in a lawsuit to overturn the Northern Ireland Protocol which he and Lord Trimble, who was a co-litigant, felt was a breach of the Belfast Agreement.  He says that there should have been cross community consent for the Protocol but this was in fact recently removed from the Northern Ireland Act 1998!  

They felt that the best possible solution was to have the NI Protocol completely nullified because it breaches the Belfast Agreement.  

Top politicians have all praised Lord Trimble and sent their condolences but many such as Tony Blair, being Europhiles, are not concerned that Northern Ireland remains under the power of the European Union, while the Protocol is in force.

In fact Nancy Pelosi came over recently to warn that there would be no trade deal with the USA if the Northern Ireland Protocol was changed in any way.  She does seem to rather exceed her role as Speaker of the US House of Representatives!

With Britain currently choosing its next Prime Minister, it is generally felt that top candidate, Foreign Secretary Liz Truss, would be best placed to deal with the Northern Ireland problem because she brought forward the Northern Ireland Protocol Bill. 

Unfortunately, she still believes it is possible to negotiate the Protocol wording with the European Union, who have proven to be totally intransigent in past negotiations. 

Northern Ireland has been a part of the United Kingdom since 1801. Without fixing the problems with trade as soon as possible, Northern Ireland is effectively still operating inside the European Union's Single Market.  While the rest of Britain left the European Union in January 2020 with the Brexit legislation, Northern Ireland was left behind and remains still firmly inside the EU!  

Is the EU Pushing for a United Ireland?

by Louise Mclean

Currently the people of Northern Ireland are so incensed about the way they have been sold out to the EU by the British Government, that violent nightly riots have been going on all over Northern Ireland since 29th March.

Update May 2021:  Lawsuit - Defending the Union of the UK, Ending the Northern Ireland Protocol

https://www.crowdjustice.com/case/defending-the-union-of-the-uk/

Ever since Brexit finally happened at the very end of 2020, it has been a very hollow victory for its supporters, mainly because of the terms and conditions relating to Northern Ireland.  The Northern Ireland Protocol, which Unionist politicians believe should be scrapped immediately, has created a border down the Irish Sea between Northern Ireland and mainland Britain, causing a number of serious problems.  

Here a former Brexit Party MEP, Ben Habib, explains why the Northern Ireland Protocol should be dropped and says the border should have remained on the mainland, between the North and South of Ireland, as it has done for over 100 years. 

Firstly, Northern Ireland has effectively been kept under EU law and secondly it is still in the Single Market for goods, so trade between it and the rest of Britain has been seriously impacted. Trade has become too expensive and lined with red tape for British exporters to make it worth their while, meaning that many products are now missing from the shelves of the shops in Northern Ireland.

Problems surrounding trade mean products must comply with strict EU rules on for example, animal and plant health, and traders must complete a range of new processes  in order to ship from Great Britain to Northern Ireland.  Delays due to border checks cause disruption of supply chains of goods moving from the UK to Northern Ireland. Many British firms have decided the market is too small to continue supplying Northern Ireland and that the increased costs, as well as red tape, are simply not worth the bother.

However, the Northern Ireland Protocol is not yet fully operational, as there has been a grace period for certain certifications and declarations, which lapses in the months ahead. The grace period for checks on parcels and some supermarket goods ended on 31st March, revealing the problems.  Conservative minister Michael Gove has asked the European Commission to extend the grace period until January 2023 in order to find resolutions to these difficulties.

The UK Internal Market Bill would have safeguarded trade with Northern Ireland by scrapping parts of the Northern Ireland Protocol and this was favourably greeted by Democratic Unionist Party MPs.  Unfortunately the EU absolutely refused to allow the Conservative Government to push the Bill through Parliament unless those clauses were dropped, saying it was a breach of 'international law', when in fact it would have protected N.I. from many of the crippling restrictions it is now facing.

Currently the Republic of Ireland in the South of Ireland is under the EU empire and it seems as though by holding on to Northern Ireland, the plan all along was to keep them both under the EU stranglehold in the hope of a United Ireland, fully under its grip.

Why Boris Johnson and Conservative Ministers did not see this coming, is extraordinary, as it was plain to many people when the Northern Ireland Protocol was first drafted, this might be the likely outcome in the fullness of time. Few have mentioned this dangerous possibility, which would of course mean that the EU had in fact taken British land as a payment for Brexit.

However, a poll in February showed that nearly 60% of Northern Irish people would prefer to stay in the UK.

Currently the people of Northern Ireland are so incensed about the way they have been sold out to the EU by the British Government, that violent nightly riots have been going on all over Northern Ireland since 29th March. As many as 90 police officers have been injured and petrol bombs, masonry and missiles have been thrown, mainly by teenagers.  The violence is the worst seen in many years.

The EU and British Government say they are currently looking into solutions to the problems of trade between Britain and Northern Ireland but knowing the history of Brexit, this may just be weasel words.  It is far more likely that behind the scenes there is a genuine plan to unite the whole of Ireland under the EU flag and for some reason the British Government is not stopping this from becoming a reality.

So Many Missed Brexit Deadlines!

 

by Louise Mclean

The ongoing sorry saga of this year's Brexit negotiations continues, despite four missed deadlines.

The first was the important date of 30th June 2020, when a trade deal should have been agreed or otherwise a possible transition extension.

Boris Johnson and Lord David Frost, our Brexit negotiator, stood firm however and refused to change the final transition deadline of 31st December 2020.

Since then there have been other deadlines that Boris Johnson set, such as 31st July, 15th October and 15th November, when an EU Summit was taking place during this week!

On 15th November, while embarking on yet another round of talks, David Frost tweeted: 'We are working to get a deal but the only one that's possible is one that is compatible with our sovereignty and takes back control of our laws, our trade and our waters.  This has been our consistent position from the start and I will not be changing it.'

This is reassuring but quite frankly, it is like a stuck record!  This deadlock has been going on since March!  We just have to pray that Boris and David don't cave in at the last moment, as the clock is really ticking fast at this stage!  We are coming up to the end of November and December will be mainly taken up with Christmas holidays, so there is very little time to agree a trade deal.

What is extremely important in all this, is the fact that top authorities on Brexit, including Martin Howe QC, Ben Habib, (former MEP for the Brexit Party) and the Centre for Brexit Policy are clearly saying that even with No Deal, there will be no Australian style trading arrangement, so long as we are signed up to Theresa May's disastrous Withdrawal Agreement and Political Declaration.  It simply will not be possible.  

Leading Barrister Martin Howe argues that some of the Withdrawal Agreement clauses should be redrafted in order to maintain the independence, sovereignty and integrity of the United Kingdom, or we will be tied to the European Union for many years to come.

Numerous Brexiteers and leading campaigning organisations have sent Boris a letter dated 19th November 2020 imploring him to walk away now, once and for all, citing all the missed deadlines!  See video  

The EU remains intransigent with their own red lines but the EU States themselves are now panicking about trade, the lack of time and a possible No Deal outcome.

The EU red lines have remained consistent, as has our rejection of them.  Disagreement over State Aid rules, the European Court of Justice being the arbiter of any disputes, sharing our 200 mile fishing waters with other EU States and the 'level playing field' (i.e. abiding by many EU laws).  

Many are saying that the EU have not been treating Britain as a sovereign country, have not been negotiating in good faith and that gives Britain the right to pull out of the talks.

Currently David Frost says there is a short suspension of the negotiations, due to one of the EU's team having tested positive for COVID19.  In addition, Boris Johnson was in contact with an MP who tested positive last week and although Boris subsequently tested negative, he decided nevertheless to take the full two week's quarantine.

This means little is being achieved at the moment with regard to the Brexit negotiations.  With less than six weeks until the end of the Brexit transition period, it does not seem likely that any meaningful trade deal will be struck between the parties. 

We will just have to hope and pray that Boris Johnson has the courage to walk away from these negotiations and hopefully tear up the Withdrawal Agreement and Political Declaration, although this seems unlikely, as it is doubtful he has the courage to shred them and has always said he wanted to conclude a trade deal.

The other alternative is that a botched deal will be hatched or that the Brexit transition period is extended, citing the virus and lock down as an excuse.