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Apr 12 • 9 tweets • 4 min read
Last week, the UK announced that it was eliminating all remaining tariffs and quotas on Ukrainian imports - something it was able to do because of Brexit. The reaction from Europhiles, and even some EU officials, has been telling - and not in a good way. A thread. 🧵 (1/9)
Background. In 2014, Ukraine and the EU (then of course including Britain) signed a deal eliminating most tariffs, but leaving some in place, especially in agri-foods. Britain inherited this deal on leaving. The remaining tariff schedules are here. eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/… (2/9)
Since the Russian invasion, Kiev has been lobbying London and Brussels for the removal of the last tariffs and an easing of the more stringent border checks. This matters a lot, because Ukraine has lost its coastline. All its exports must now pass through EU territory. (3/9)
Last week, the UK acceded to Ukrainian requests, to general delight in Kiev. British free-traders were delighted, too: imports are a prize, not a concession, and we enrich ourselves by enriching Ukraine. (4/9)
The response from Europhiles, by contrast, was near-deranged. They simply refused to accept what had happened. Britain, apparently, must always and everywhere be in the wrong - or at least more wrong than the EU. (5/9)
Im not talking about the dull, angry stupidity of #FBPE Twitter. If I posted a picture of a puppy, it would attract a hundred replies along the lines of “LOL, Brexshit liar! #JohnsonOut”. They pass me by as the idle wind which I respect not. (6/9)
No, I mean, the entire Europhile establishment piled in: Eurocrats, Labour and Lib Dem MPs and peers, the works. Here, for example, is the French ambassador to London, responding to the reliably dim and bellicose @JMPSimor. (7/9)
Yet the facts remain. Britain has removed the remaining tariffs. The EU has not. This is of more than symbolic interest because, as I say, Ukraine cannot export to the UK, or anywhere else, without transiting EU territory. Hence its constant requests for a “green channel”. (8/9)
If Europhiles truly cared, they would add their voices to those in Kiev urging Brussels to lift restrictions on exports - even if only the checks on goods transiting to the UK. But that would mean moving past their dislike of Britain, so I'm not holding my breath. (9/9) [ends]

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More from @DanielJHannan

Daniel Hannan Profile picture
Apr 11
A very moving 5 days in Poland, working with Conservative MPs and peers to build a playground for Ukrainian orphans who have been forced to move to Poland. The unfussy professionalism with which Poles have responded to the refugee crisis is humbling. (1)
Several politicians gave up a chunk of their recess to lend a hand. Thanks to @Tom_Randall @ASollowayUK @HodgsonFiona @jamesowild @NatalieElphicke and @BrooksNewmark, as well as to Andrew Bingham , Zak Khan & Natalie Evans. And thanks to @NaweedKhan for organising it all. (2)
Thanks, too, to our honorary British Tory, @GudlaugurThor, who is currently Iceland's environment minister, is one of my oldest friends in politics, and has been an unflagging friend to the UK throughout his career. (3)
Read 9 tweets
Daniel Hannan Profile picture
Mar 11
I am in awe of the unfussy generosity of the volunteers on the Polish-Ukrainian border. Here is my old friend @BrooksNewmark who has so far arranged bus transport for more than 400 people to their preferred destinations.
Here’s a team from the West Country, organised by @AlastairChambe5. They’ve brought two lorry loads and four van loads of aid, and are coming back with more next week. The brisk and practical helpfulness of both volunteers and local people in these Polish marchlands is humbling.
You probably know all this, but no one here needs extra clothes. There is still demand for nappies, baby foods, sanitary towels, paracetamol. And @alastairchambe5 wants flak jackets, of the kind journalists wear, if anyone has any spare.
Read 4 tweets
Daniel Hannan Profile picture
Mar 10
The moment that Russia, a sovereign state, openly began to act as a terrorist gang. “Do as we say or we’ll shoot down your civilian airliners”.
It is worth restating that arms sales are a legitimate part of the international order. You might not like them, but they are in no sense unusual. Selling Polish MiGs to Ukraine for €1 each would be perfectly legal. So would allowing their pilots to accept Ukrainian passports.
Talking of arms sales, I'm guessing that not even the poorest tinpot dictatorship will want to buy Russian weaponry after this. It'll be Turkish drones all the way. 🇹🇷
Read 4 tweets
Daniel Hannan Profile picture
Nov 28, 2020
What's the worst aspect of wokery?
The inconsistency? ("Respect diversity! We're all the same!")
The intolerance? ("That's an outdated word! Sack her!")
The irrationality? ("My anger trumps your facts, whitesplainer!")
For me, it's something even worse... telegraph.co.uk/news/2020/11/2…
Eton says the lecture might have breached the Equalities Act. If this is true, we need to change the law. How can it be illegal to advance a view shared by most biologists, neuroscientists and psychologists, namely that there are innate differences between male and female brains?
On this reading of the Equalities Act, Eton itself might be illegal. Not only does it exclude girls, but it seeks (or until very recently sought) to inculcate some notably masculine virtues in its boys, including chivalry, physical courage and, yes, protectiveness towards women.
Read 4 tweets
Daniel Hannan Profile picture
Jul 15, 2020
A senior curator in San Francisco is forced out for his “toxic white supremacist beliefs”. His crime? Saying that diversity meant collecting the works of white artists, too. (As an aside, @reason is one of the few institutions having a good culture war.) reason.com/2020/07/14/gar…
This, by the way, is what "cancel culture" means. It doesn't mean criticism of a public figure. It means pressuring an institution to sanction someone, not for doing anything illegal or immoral, but for crossing some woke line that didn't exist until the day before yesterday.
Some on the Left (eg @OwenJones84 and @CharlesMBlow) say that cancel culture doesn't exist. And, in fairness to them, many on the Right use the term imprecisely, to mean any kind of pile-on against anyone. To me, "cancel culture" should be used narrowly for cases like this one.
Read 5 tweets
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May 8, 2020
The cases against @darrengrimes_ and Alan Halsall have finally been dropped. They've been put through hell for four years - FOUR YEARS. And over what? No accusation of personal gain or nefariousness. At worst, they filled in forms incorrectly. Our quango state is out of control.
Both have been punished monstrously for, in effect, giving up their time to volunteer for a cause they believed in. Will any of their accusers at the Electoral Commission now face sanctions, or even public opprobrium? Of course not: that's not how it works.
In the current climate, the abandonment of the case might not get as much coverage as its being brought in the first place. Still, I hope there will be at least *some* acknowledgment by @BBCr4today, @guardian and, especially, @Channel4News which devoted an entire programme to it.
Read 8 tweets

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