Thread by @pmdfoster

So following my thread this morning, let's see what @michaelgove said to the Commons about the Northern Ireland protocol implementation, which the EU is fretting over.

1/Thread

@michaelgove He opens by saying UK Govt is "wholly committed" to implementing the Withdrawal Agreement, inc luding the Irish Protocol. /2

Full hansard here: hansard.parliament.uk/Commons/2020-0…

@michaelgove He then says that those, like @GeorgePeretzQC who say that Protocol State Aid provisions could give EU a backdoor way into controlling UK state aid that impacts Northern Ireland are wrong - see Peretz piece here. /3

telegraph.co.uk/business/2019/…

@michaelgove @GeorgePeretzQC He then tells @JimShannonMP of the DUP that there will be "no border down the Irish Sea" - which obviously depends on what you mean by "border" /4

@michaelgove @GeorgePeretzQC @JimShannonMP Lastly @ClaireHanna of the SDLP asks for "crystal clarity" and detail about how all the UK govts contradictory statements can be reconciled - and gets obfuscatory waffle for her troubles. /5

@michaelgove @GeorgePeretzQC @JimShannonMP @ClaireHanna One question is whether the mandate itself would help - but @MichaelAodhan of the NI Retail Consortium says the document has really left everyone none the wiser (my highlight)... /6

@michaelgove @GeorgePeretzQC @JimShannonMP @ClaireHanna @MichaelAodhan It's not clear that the UK position has really evolved beyond "we'll fulfill our legal obligations" which is the standard line they give to EU officials - since so much of this is semantics and definitions, relating to the practicalities of implementation...BUT /7

@michaelgove @GeorgePeretzQC @JimShannonMP @ClaireHanna @MichaelAodhan It is good to see a minster of Gove's standing at the dispatch box saying that the UK govt is "wholly committed" to "respecting and enacting" the WA and NI Protocol. That should cheer a few in Brussels and EU capitals...though of course the proof will be in the pudding. 8/ENDS