Thread by @AndrewPRLevi

The surprise & consternation expressed by many that @BorisJohnson & @DavidGHFrost are insisting on the role of the ECJ being eliminated from all aspects of Northern Ireland is odd.

Everyone has known this is the UK position, since at least December 2019.

What’s up?

A🧵/1.

.@Conservatives manifesto had a whole section on Brexit.

Famously (or infamously) the centrepiece & overwhelming message of the Conservative campaign was that they would “get Brexit done” with @BorisJohnson’s “oven-ready deal”. /2.

To be sure, that “deal” was the Withdrawal Agreement (including Northern Ireland Protocol), not the later Trade & Cooperation Agreement which was rammed through the House of Commons a year later, in December 2020. The WA/NIP was hailed as “great” by @Conservatives. /3.

And the manifesto said, unequivocally, the UK (no exceptions) would be kept out of the single market, any form of customs union & the role of the ECJ would be ended.

There was never any doubt about these commitments. They had to be red line UK demands of the EU. Right? /4.

So what’s the fuss?

Let’s go back to the 2019 election campaign.

The promises were dishonest. Impossible. Everyone involved knew it.

How so? /5.

The WA/NIP, already fully drafted, agreed & signed before the campaign started, made clear that, whatever the TCA ended up saying, NI would (let’s not quibble on technicalities) stay in the SM for goods, many CU rules would stay for NI, & there would be ECJ jurisdiction. /6.

In principle, the TCA, coming nearly a year later, could have kept the whole UK (or just NI) in all aspects of CU & SM. That would, of course, have broken the manifesto promise. /7.

The TCA couldn’t remove the whole UK of GB & NI from all aspects of CU & SM. That would have breached the WA/NIP. And required a customs & regulatory frontier across Ireland. Which, unless you’re a sophist of a shameless variety, wrecks the Good Friday Agreement. /8.

This is a pretty standard discussion of options (@MichelBarnier’s step diagram set them out for the UK as a whole). And that’s all very well. But the Conservative Party manifesto & their entire @BorisJohnson-fronted campaign was only compatible with one (extreme) outcome. /9.

That is:

- complete removal of the whole UK of GB & NI from the SM & any kind of CU

- no ECJ involvement whatsoever

Those conditions are neither compatible with the WA/NIP, not the TCA negotiated by @DavidGHFrost after the election. /10.

Remember, both the TCA & WA/NIP were negotiated, agreed, signed & forced through the House of Commons by @BorisJohnson’s government. The Conservative Party & government, fronted by Mr Johnson (assisted by Lord Frost) breached their most prominent, core manifesto commitments. /11.

They insisted on arrangements which:

- kept part of the UK in key aspects of the SM & CU

- as a consequence, maintained substantial ECJ jurisdiction

Bizarre. A massive betrayal of everyone who voted Conservative in 2019. /12.

So, is the shock & confusion caused by the fact @BorisJohnson @DavidGHFrost & their Conservative Party drove a coach & horses through their own manifesto, enshrining in international law the sellout of their voters? And the fact no one cared? /13.

Or is it that they’re now trying to reverse that, trashing the rule of law & UK reputation in the process?

Either way, it’s the pits. Politically, legally, ethically. Beyond atrocious. /14.

And, either way, let’s be honest with each other.

It’s always all been there in black & white.

Dishonesty. Treachery. Pure self-interest. Nothing else.

What else did you expect?

Don’t act surprised now. /15. End