Thread by @pmdfoster

AS EU mulls legal action against UK on Northern Irish Protocol - @Jacob_Rees_Mogg tells @ConHome podcast that UK does have "selfish interest" in Northern Ireland - and explains UK position on protocol - listen from 9m30s. Potentially provocative. Why? /1

conservativehome.com/highlights/202…

@Jacob_Rees_Mogg @ConHome Well that phrase "no selfish strategic or economic interest" was used by Thatcher's NI Secretary Peter Brooke as a key signal to Republicans in the gestation of the Good Friday Agreement - see account here /2

theguardian.com/uk/1999/oct/16…

@Jacob_Rees_Mogg @ConHome It underpins the notion of "rigorous impartiality" that the UK Secretary of State has to both communities in Northern Ireland - a notion that #Brexit has always made problematic. More on that here /3

qpol.qub.ac.uk/selfish-strate…

@Jacob_Rees_Mogg @ConHome So what did @Jacob_Rees_Mogg say in his conversation with @HCH_Hill?

See below...I'm not sure he really quite understand how it could be understood. I think he's making a general point about preserving the Union /4

@Jacob_Rees_Mogg @ConHome @HCH_Hill But these are very delicate issues - indeed when @michaelgove talks about the "majority community" in Northern Ireland, as he did for example to NI Select Cmme last June on the question of NI-GB trade, he's close to the wind /5

irishtimes.com/news/world/uk/…

@Jacob_Rees_Mogg @ConHome @HCH_Hill @michaelgove On the current situation, @Jacob_Rees_Mogg is very frank - the UK intends the Protocol to work "light touch" as @BorisJohnson intended it should be when he signed it...essentially based on real effective risk posed to EU single market by leakage of goods. /6

@Jacob_Rees_Mogg @ConHome @HCH_Hill @michaelgove @BorisJohnson Of course, that isn't actually what the government did sign - as the @hmtreasury risk assessment document leaked in 2019 election showed (handy checklist below)... /7

https://twitter.com/pmdfoster/status/1216728122583912450?s=20

@Jacob_Rees_Mogg @ConHome @HCH_Hill @michaelgove @BorisJohnson @hmtreasury The good part is - as the EU looks to start imminent legal proceedings - that JRM isn't drawn into sabre-rattling on Article 16 etc. There is still desire to make Protocol work on UK's terms... /8

@Jacob_Rees_Mogg @ConHome @HCH_Hill @michaelgove @BorisJohnson @hmtreasury Which still ought to be possible - with flexibility on both sides, given time for business to ingest new processes and adapt, assuming the EU is prepared to recognise fully the 'unique circumstances of NI, even as it sub-contracts management of its border to a third party /9

@Jacob_Rees_Mogg @ConHome @HCH_Hill @michaelgove @BorisJohnson @hmtreasury The issue at the moment is that the UK is not a "trusted third party", but a deeply distrusted one.

Mistakes have been made on both sides, but both sides have in interest (and no better options) than making this thing work. So huffing and puffing aside, they should. ENDS