Thread by @EinsteinsAttic

I have a few questions on the whole #Article16 row, and row-back.

Though I understand it's FAR more exciting to report on the inevitable political #PileOn / #AxeGrinding / #CasusBelli, there is actually an agreed Protocol and procedures.

So...
bbc.co.uk/news/uk-558655…

1a) Have folks read #Article16 of the Protocol on Ireland/Northern Ireland?

It's on p13 of this PDF: assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/upl… and is quite short [left pic].

1b) Have they read Annex 7 [right pic, p62 of PDF] which describes the procedures to be followed?

Assuming the answers to (1a) & (1b) are Yes:

2) Given the EU appears to have considered these to be "exceptional circumstances" was the UK notified via the #JointCommittee, and was all relevant information provided?

(Papers should be here, eventually: ec.europa.eu/info/relations…)

3) #JointCommittee aside, did the EU & UK immediately enter into consultations about a "commonly acceptable solution"?

It seems to me this has demonstrated the Protocol working entirely as negotiated, according to rules to which BOTH sides agreed, which EITHER side can deploy...

The #sovereign capacity of the UK to distribute #vaccines within its own #borders, exactly as it saw fit, was never in doubt. (Its competence might be another thing, but - fingers crossed and supplies willing! - things seem to be going relatively OK.)

As people far more...

...knowledgeable than me have pointed out, #Article16 was no 'quick fix' and has political ramifications on BOTH sides:

blogs.lse.ac.uk/brexit/2021/01…

Also, is some of the current 'heat' being confected by those who wish to distract from the UK's own previous disregard for #RuleOfLaw?

As @easypoliticsUK points out, the process has worked, and the EU has reversed its decision:

https://twitter.com/easypoliticsUK/status/1355479803479142400?s=19

(Noting that the majority of the UK's @AstraZeneca #vaccine supply is produced in the UK: post.parliament.uk/manufacturing-… )

...and also that @BorisJohnson himself said he would have "no hesitation" in triggering #Article16.

Just two weeks ago:

belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/brexit/wa…