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Kevin Hjortshøj O'Rourke @kevinhorourke
, 3 tweets, 1 min read Read on Twitter
This is merely stating the obvious:

irishtimes.com/news/politics/…
Why does anyone think that the EU designed the backstop as it did, with the active involvement of the Irish government? Why does anyone think think that IRL has been stressing the importance of maintaining full regulatory alignment North and South?
Because otherwise a hard border becomes inevitable. The Sammy Wilsons and Jacob Rees Moggs of the world claim otherwise. Varadkar must not join them in chasing unicorns.
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@MichelBarnier , @WeyandSabine , and everyone else involved, including on the UK side, deserves huge credit for getting the process to this stage: many congratulations. Given how many red lines had to be navigated it is a massive achievement.
Attention in the UK will focus on the imperfections of the deal but those are merely the reflection of the political red lines - leave the EU, leave the SM, no customs border between NI and GB - that negotiators had to work with.
What Barnier and colleagues have achieved is to construct a pathway towards an orderly Brexit, something that has not always seemed likely. And if a future HMG changes their red lines, the future relationship could be very close indeed.
Read 4 tweets
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@davidallengreen is of course right: if HMG reneges on the backstop it previously agreed this may well lead to a no deal Brexit, considerable economic damage to Member States including Ireland, and the very hard border the backstop was designed to avoid.
ft.com/content/0df643…
Does it follow that the EU was wrong to push the backstop? I don't think so. Avoiding a hard border was identified as one of the 3 key divorce issues and understandably so given the stakes. And HMG displayed bad faith on the issue throughout.
They clearly intended to use the Irish border issue to force the EU to accept no border controls anywhere, despite HMG being free to do trade deals with others, diverging in terms of regulations and all the rest of it. They were incredibly cynical.
Read 7 tweets
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Just a quick reminder. On the backstop, HMG has not only signed up to the December Joint Report, it also agreed in March that...
"a legally operative version of the “backstop” solution for the border between Northern Ireland and Ireland, in line with paragraph 49 of the Joint Report, should be agreed as part of the legal text of the Withdrawal Agreement, to apply unless and until another solution is found"
In line with Paragraph 49, NOT in line with Paragraphs 49 and 50.

And NOT temporary: it is to apply unless and until another solution is found.

This concession in March is too often ignored. The source is here:

ec.europa.eu/commission/sit…
Read 4 tweets

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1) This is my #Qanon thread for August 13, 2018.

#Qanon posts can be found here: qanon.app

Q Android apps:
bit.ly/Q_Drops
bit.ly/Q_Alerts

My Theme: Sometimes the Truth is Right in Front of You.
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This week, #Qanon has challenged Hollywood's view of pedophilia.

Link:
3) On August 9th, #Qanon posted this.
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1/ Extreme civilisation, late-stage capitalism, whatever you want to call it: this thread👇🏼 is about THE. LEAST. SUSTAINABLE. THING. EVER! And it’s Irish...

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@creedcnw @OriginGreen @Bordbia
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"Trump has used Harley-Davidson as an example of a US business that is being harmed by trade barriers. Yet Harley has warned consistently against tariffs, saying they would negatively impact sales"

Harley, hit by tariffs, shifts some production overseas apnews.com/6c8942f7363743…
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