Order of events:
- December 2020: (Honest Boris’) UK Government signs a deal with the EU over trade and Northern Ireland
- Every minute since: Same government jumps up and down about the deal being unfair and threatens to walk away
- 08/10/2021: EU announces that on 13/10/2021 it’ll offer ways to make the deal work easier
- 12/10/2021: David – the cavity concrete block – Frost (large, unsubtle, but not quite filled UK Minister of Brexit Bluster) announces unfeasible answers to problems of our own making… OR ELSE we’ll walk away from our deals (again)
- 13/10/2021: EU does as it promised
The EU’s proposals are practical and reasonable. Neither adjective applies to our approach. Frost’s – and effectively Johnson’s, but he probably doesn’t know or care much – are ludicrous. The idea that anyone would let access to the Single Market of 31 nations be outside the control of the European Court of Justice beggars belief.
The question, which may indicate the future, is what’s Frost going to do now?
My view is this is all about politics. Frost jumped in and larded up and down to sound like a reasonable compromising diplomat when the EU came half way.
Good God, we couldn’t let the blighters come half way by themselves. What?
Daily Telegraph columnists (like in Downing St) might moan, but he buys their moral high-ground. Better still the circus can stop and we get on with dealing with stuff for a while.
The alternative is that Frost &co stick to their guns and demand no ECJ in the deal (think: “I don’t like the law, I want a separate legal system just for me”). This would indicate they truly are disconnected from reality, and any UK/EU relations can’t be solved under the current administration. A government disconnected from reality and unable to make mutually beneficial compromises with long-time allies and major trading partners would be a Bad Thing.
It should be expected that he’ll grumble and keep a bit of this up his sleeve for later Daily Mail populism. It’s unlikely to be clear tomorrow whether we’re finally associating with the real world, but the direction should start to make itself clear in the next 48 hours.
There is no doubt Honest Boris and co will renege on whatever they agree to in due course. That’s in his nature. As I said before, my only first hand expert describes him as a “lying charlatan who thinks his ability to get women into bed somehow qualifies him to run a country”. However let’s hope this can be put off for a while.
I think… hope …that this will prove to be boorish arrogance rather than boorish arrogant UK-destructive incomprehension of the world. Let’s see.