Thread by @NashSGC

On the matter of UK public opinion and the protocol, my guess wld be that the majority have no strong view either way.

I think the govt approach right now is about controlling the background noise, rather than activating the majority of voters.

https://twitter.com/pmdfoster/status/1402894867504799745

"Banning the Great British banger" is classically Johnsonian. It's a memorable turn of phrase, & points to EU nonsense in the straight banana mold. This is brand building (or reinforcing, given how long Johnson has been doing this), but not yet point of sale marketing.

To put it another way, the pitch is being rolled to try to bring an end to the protocol when the first consent vote takes place. That's the long game.

In the meantime, the UK govt will keep painting the EU as unreasonable, & pretend that there are no risks to the EU of softening its approach (i.e. being pragmatic, rather than legally purist)...

….when they of course it knows that this isn't really about sausages, but setting a precedent that other countries then seek to exploit, which weakens the EU in other negotiations, & risks weakening the SM, which, given the SM is the only asset...

...the EU has that gives it a seat at the top table globally, makes this is an existentially matter for the EU.

Meanwhile, the EU will continue to insist that the UK implement what it agreed, while knowing deep down that there is little it can do to oblige the UK to act in ways it doesn't want to act.

The EU will also continue to fail to acknowledge/understand that the existence of the protocol is evidence to some (particularly in government), that Brexit is still not done.

So the EU is in a bind running into the consent vote, because it wants to demonstrate that the protocol is working, but the UK govt. doesn't, & the protocol can’t be made to work if the UK & the EU don't work together.

This is likely to get worse, before it gets better.