There are 3 very simple measures the UK government could take and the vast majority of checks on GB goods entering NI would disappear overnight.
That they are NOT doing these 3 things shows HMG are DELIBERATELY causing the problem at the expense of NI business and consumers.
1/
The 3 things: 1. Separately label GB goods intended for NI market only. (Jeez, we print sell-by dates, would it kill us to print "GB not for export"?) 2. Give EU realtime access to UK goods movements database (as promised). 3. Properly staff our BCPs (as promised).
2/
HMG could grant these 3 wishes in an instant. The EU would then: 1. Allow express lanes for NI only lorries 2. Permit 1 certificate per lorry, rather than 1 needed for each of maybe 100 different goods in a mixed load. 3. Dramatically reduce the amount of information...
3/
that is needed on that one form. (To basically the same info the ferry operators insist on anyway, before they allow someone to drive sh1t onto their boats) 4. Massively expand the "not at risk of export to EU" definition so that the majority of NI SME's qualify.
4/
The EU has already legislated to allow medicines that are approved in UK but not the EU to be placed on the NI market, meaning GB can remain a distribution hub for meds to NI.
So, whenever you read about checks in NI, or Stormont collapsing, or the DUP revolting - or the revolting DUP - please remember: HMG IS CAUSING THE CHECKS. It could remove nearly all of them with 3 simple measures. But it is CHOOSING not to.
6/6
• • •
Missing some Tweet in this thread? You can try to
force a refresh
Oh FFS. "Mutual enforcement":
a hard border between NI and IRL, but the border officials swap around - Irish check NORTHBOUND goods for compliance with British rules and British check SOUTHBOUND goods for compliance with EU rules.
Was there ever a more stupid idea?
1/
A. IT CREATES A HARD BORDER BETWEEN NI AND IRL.
Is a young nationalist firebrand, who objects to "Brits asking for papers" really going to be mollified by the check occurring on his southbond journey, instead of his northbound return?
I've never heard anything so dumb.
2/
B. It means asking the EU to trust the UK to enforce EU border controls. However, after 5 years of lying, lawbreaking, treaty-reneging, threats, insults & general f*ckery, the UK can be trusted to honour an agreement like you'd trust Jimmy Savile to give your daughter a lift.
3/
Somewhere in a secure room, in a large building in Vauxhall Cross, a meeting recently took place. It went something like this:
"Stand up, M! Can't you see I am the Home Secretary!"
"Sorry, Home Secretary, I didn't see you behind the chairback... How can I help you?"
1/
"You've seen the news, M, the whole Government is topplin'; Johnson has blown it; this partyin' durin' lockdown is destroyin' us! We need a DISTRACTION!. I want the "special file", the "political file", I want the deadliest, darkest, dirtiest dirt you have on Labour."
2/
"Don't you want to holdvit back fir the next General Election, Home Sec? Like normal"
"No, dolt! We need it NOW! And it better be good!"
"Well... um... we have something on one of them, but he's a brexiter like you, Home Sec"
More detail?
OK:
"Free speech" means banning "woke warriors" from criticising Frosty on twitter (mea culpa), because nothing says "free speech" like censoring dissenting views.
How to define "woke warrior"?
Anyone who disagrees with Frosty, obvs.
"Free markets"
Yup; the man who took us out of the largest single market in the world, and left the UK as the only country whose free market is smaller than it's geographical footprint, is talking about "free markets".
I'd sooner take marriage guidance from Johnson.
Spot on, by @CharlesTannock : how could leaving the EU regulatory system in 2021 enable a vaccination rollout that was already begun the previous year? (Unless Dr Who was involved somehow.)
However, there are at least two occasions when Brexit HAMPERED our rollout.
The first occasion was April when an AZ vaccine clotting risk in younger people was found. We switched to Pfizer, but had to slow down the programme dramatically so that we would not run out before our 2nd Pfizer order could arrive in September.
If we had been part of the EU pool we would not have had to wait until September for that 2nd delivery (60M doses) all the time stretching out our original 40M doses like a grand-prix car running the last lap on fumes.
The second occasion was before Xmas when 5-11 year olds
3/