Will it be deal or no deal?
Below we are re-publishing an extract from one of our affiliate organisations, Brexit Facts4EU.Org. The full article, along with additional quotations and observations, is available here.
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As rumours grow that Liz Truss is about to capitulate we say “No Deal” – and here’s why
Brexit reforms in great Britain are now being abandoned because of the Protocol in Northern Ireland. “Take back Control” is now becoming a hollow promise.
Revelations in the last week that two important reforms promised by the Conservatives have now been abandoned – due entirely to the Northern Ireland Protocol – have served to illustrate how invasive and distorting are the effects of having a confected internal border in the middle of the Irish Sea.
Late last year all eyes were on the Government in expectation of it abolishing the 5% VAT rate on energy bills – previously promised by Boris Johnson as a good reason to vote ‘Leave’ during the 2016 referendum.
With the cost of energy going through the roof it was expected that the VAT cut would be a way of reducing household bills – but the Chancellor Rishi Sunak refused.
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Rumours abound that this is all political – caused by the EU’s Protocol
Reports coming out of the Treasury and from well-informed Conservative MPs now put it beyond question that the real reason is not an economic one but the embarrassment that would be caused by the Northern Ireland Protocol not allowing the VAT cut to be delivered in Northern Ireland. The outrage that would be caused in Northern Ireland would have made the Protocol even more unpopular than it is and show the failure of the Government’s agreement made at the end of 2019.
Then at the weekend it was announced that the proposal by Michael Gove to ban foie gras in the UK is also not now going ahead – and the reason again is it would mean a different law on mainland Great Britain to that in Northern Ireland, as the EU Single Market and Customs Union allows foie gras to be exported from France.
The BBC reported the Northern Ireland Secretary had “raised concerns” the ban could not go ahead in Northern Ireland, drawing attention to the differences in law that the Protocol can make.
And… if it can happen in the EU does it have to happen in the United Kingdom now that we have taken back control?
