The Irish protocol.

Snugbugrug28

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118342545#Comment_118342545

It's a temporary withdrawal of bluster for Christmas no doubt. Best thing for all parties right now is for Boris to be ousted.

Snugbugrug28

Frostie has resigned from Johnson's cabinet. Does this mean he has resigned from the Protocol discussions?

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2021/12/18/lord-frost-resigns-covid-plan-b-political-direction-boris-johnsons/

FrancieBrady

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118344305#Comment_118344305

The Brexit shambles has some casualty list at this stage.

Seth Brundle

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118344471#Comment_118344471

Almost everybody in the UK for starters!

FrancieBrady

Pretty much hitting the nail squarely on the head here.

https://twitter.com/AntonSpisak/status/1472295808066281477

igCorcaigh

Why did Frost resign? The reasons he gave were all domestic issues, nothing to do with Brexit. Does he leave from the negotiations now?

FrancieBrady

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118344765#Comment_118344765

Lotta talk on Twitter that he is signaling others to start sending the letters of no confidence in Boris in and that the last official UK statement on Protocol talks deliberately undermined him.

Has agreed to stay until January apparently

igCorcaigh

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118344840#Comment_118344840

Nonsense getting in the way of something really important :/

BonnieSituation

And another one bites the dust.

It's remarkable and hilarious.

FrancieBrady

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118344882#Comment_118344882

That never bothered the Tories.

FrancieBrady

The takedowns on Twitter on this are just fascinating...a country divided is an understatement.

https://twitter.com/nmdacosta/status/1472305518874087430

Seth Brundle

Has agreed to stay until January apparently

He is entitled to holiday pay 🤣

Peregrinus

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118344765#Comment_118344765

Yes, he does.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118344840#Comment_118344840

It seems he had already agreed with Johnson that he would stand down next month. He has now brought that forward and is standing down immediately. We only know about the agreement re January because he mentions it in his resignation letter.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118344928#Comment_118344928

He will have a lasting memorial in the form of the Northern Ireland Protocol he negotiated on behalf of the UK, ECJ jurisdiction and all, which will endure for the ages.

Cyclingtourist

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118344928#Comment_118344928

Especially for anyone reading the article Frost wrote in this Weekend's FT titled 'We have not made enough progress on Northern Ireland Protocol'.

Article appears in the morning and by the same evening he's gone.

pixelburp

My immediate thought when Frost departed was how soon we'd seen him pivot to a media role, cribbing about how terrible British Brexit negotiators have been, without a trace or shame or irony in his voice. Indeed I've wondered if he might be a choice role for GB News. Either way I don't doubt he'll make bank from speaking roles for ultra-nationalist audiences. Brexit would have been amazing if the universe had have let them have their way etc.

As always, to be a fly on the wall of the hallways in DUP HQ. Is there a group or party more incompetent and incapable of reading a room?

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118346105#Comment_118346105

I haven't really gotten that from him.

His points are fine. He didn't want a part of the UK to be separate from the rest. He did what he could and failed. That isn't ultra-nationalist, a term which illicits so many negative connotations.

Why do forums like this have to have to go so far.. Not wanting to be in the EU doesn't make you a bad person. It's a perfectly valid wish for your country and it can come from any myriad of places.

pixelburp

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118348104#Comment_118348104

Doing a lot of reading between the lines there. I never said he was a bad person, or a desire to leave the EU equivalent. I do think he spoke out of both sides of his mouth, railing against a legal agreement he and his government agreed to. There were plenty of paths the UK could have taken out of the EU that would have left it in good shape, with minimal negotiations needed; Frost was the tip of the spear that repeatedly bristled against anything remotely pragmatic, risking peace in Ireland as a result. Norwegian or Swiss deals were right there, but yes - a sense of ultra nationalism couldn't countenance bending the knee to that extent. The GB News was TBH just facetiousness, thinking of the channels love of yesterday's men to talk up a Britain that doesn't exist.

KildareP

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118348104#Comment_118348104

The man literally tore apart the exact same deal that he himself extensively triumphed to the UK public as a wonderful deal as soon as it was signed. You would be forgiven for thinking he was criticising someone else's negotiations - it was his own bloody work!

If he felt that strongly why didn't he refuse to stand over it at the signing stage? Why didn't he resign then?

Either he didn't understand his own deal or he signed it thinking he could somehow undo the unsavoury bits later and unfortunately for him, that has proven impossible. So like the numerous Brexit secretaries before him, he sails off into the sunset blaming everything and everyone else.

Esel

Great sense of calm in this thread for the past few days.

FrancieBrady

Liz Truss to take over apparently.

https://twitter.com/tconnellyRTE/status/1472633368315674631

BonnieSituation

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118344928#Comment_118344928

Not as hilarious as Liz Truss taking over. Amazing!

Snugbugrug28

Is she not a bit busy as Foreign Secretary?

Peregrinus

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118348104#Comment_118348104

What on earth makes you think he didn't want a part of the UK to be separate from the rest? The UK was offered a deal in which NI was not separated in this way, and turned it down. Frost negotiated the deal they eventually made; if that deal separates NI from the rest of the UK, that is because the UK negotiating team, led by Frost, wanted that.

Not wanting to be in the EU doesn't in itself make you a bad person, but it is perfectly possible not to want to be in the EU and to be a bad person. Frost was acting dishonestly when he proposed, negotiated and signed the NI Protocol, or he was acting dishonestly when he opposed it, or — quite possibly — both. Take your pick. But there is no reading of these events in which Frost has behaved well.

Ultranationalism is "extreme nationalism that promotes the interest of one state or people above all others", or simply "extreme devotion to one's own nation". When combined with the notion of national rebirth, ultranationalism is a key foundation of fascism.

All I said was I didn't get that from him. No need for everyone to lose their minds and beat me back into the group. I haven't defected.

Peregrinus

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118348829#Comment_118348829

She gets a new sidekick - Chris Heaton-Harris is appointed as a Minister of State in the Foreign Office with the title "Minister for Europe". He will "deputise for the Foreign Secretary as necessary on EU Exit and the Protocol". Presumably he'll do a good deal of the legwork.

On Brexit matters, he's very butch. He's a past chairman of the ERG. You may recall that a few years back he got into trouble for writing on House of Commons notepaper to the vice-chancellors of every university in the UK, demanding the names of staff lecturing on Brexit and copies of all their course material; he was roundly spanked on both sides for this. The excuse was offered that he was writing a book on changing attitudes to the EU and this was a simple quest for research material, and not at all a blatant attempt to intimidate lecturers and suppress academic freedom. Publication date for the book is still awaited.

votecounts

https://twitter.com/UTVNews/status/1473058127960428547

What's theo odds on Leo getting death threats on a wall for telling the truth. Seamie and wee Jeffy won't be happy.

FrancieBrady

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118354267#Comment_118354267

What's the odds of them applauding the belligerents at their next party conference?

They NEED to speak out against belligerence not embrace it.

pixelburp

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118354267#Comment_118354267

This is what those opposed to the NI Protocol fear (well, the ones in Britain rather than the quislings of the DUP); a successful, burgeoning NI economy, in harmony with its EU neighbour makes a mockery of Brexit. So while SMEs on the mainland struggle, Irish businesses will keep on keeping on. It won't figure much in the narrative of national UK media but those on the know will note all this. It's yet more of that drip feed of reality that maybe ... just maybe... (Hard) Brexit was a load of bollix.

Dubh Geannain

Hadn't checked in in a while. Glad the trolling was rooted out (even the initial thread title was intended to provoke a reaction I'd guess, which it never did) and mostly reasonable observations and discussions have started to take place.

On Liz Truss my initial opinion is that from an EUs perspective she may be better than Frost for getting some closure on the Northern Ireland Protocol as the rhetoric might get dialled back a bit. She's hardly second favourite to become the next PM though is she?

https://twitter.com/AdamBienkov/status/1470058848794955785

pixelburp

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118361336#Comment_118361336

As we've seen, an affable fool (however performative it might be in Johnson's case) goes down well with the public. For a time; Truss might poll well in that regard though one presumes if she's serious about going for PM she'll want to have teeth behind the friendly face.