Brexit.

[Farrandeelin]

#SeniorHurling

https://www.ft.com/content/9906e0d4-0c29-4f5f-9cb0-130c75a2f7a7

The UK is planning new legislation that will override key parts of the Brexit withdrawal agreement, risking the collapse of trade negotiations with Brussels.  Sections of the internal market bill — due to be published this Wednesday — are expected to "eliminate the legal force of parts of the withdrawal agreement" in areas including state aid and Northern Ireland customs, according to three people familiar with the plans.  The move would "clearly and consciously" undermine the agreement on Northern Ireland that Boris Johnson signed last October to avoid a return to a hard border in the region, one person with knowledge of the plans said.

Also a breach of the GFA is it not?

[imtommygunn]

Boris Johnson shocks everyone by not keeping his word.

Those pricks will screw us here. You can see it coming - it's just a matter of how not if IMO.

[Taylor]

Boris doesnt give two shites - he has to please the money men behind him.

If I was a unionist I would be very concerned - this will only speed up a UI

[johnnycool]

Boris doesnt give two shites - he has to please the money men behind him.

If I was a unionist I would be very concerned - this will only speed up a UI

The DUP don't see it that way though. The harder the border on the island of Ireland the better after Brexit even if they won't come out and say it.

They never wanted the GFA, didn't support it and would rather see the back of it than try to work with any taig let alone the Shinners.

[armaghniac]

Of course the DUP want to wreck things, but if they make a sufficient mess of the 6 counties then many of those in the middle will start to see a United Ireland as the way out, and that is hardly in the interest of the DUP.

[mouview]

Boris Johnson shocks everyone by not keeping his word.

Those pricks will screw us here. You can see it coming - it's just a matter of how not if IMO.

Probably Dominic Cummings' doings. BoJo is too thick and indolent to come up with an idea like this on his own.

[imtommygunn]

Of course the DUP want to wreck things, but if they make a sufficient mess of the 6 counties then many of those in the middle will start to see a United Ireland as the way out, and that is hardly in the interest of the DUP.

That is thinking rationally though and I am not sure they do that. They can be a bit blinded by hatred and anything to create distance from "Dublin" is in their view a good thing from what I can see.

[bennydorano]

Besides the underlying underhandedmess of it all it's  a really strange time to bring such a thing to Parliament, with the EU team due in London for the next round of trade negotiations on Tuesday. it's either some sort of tactic or good old fashioned idiocy. With a majority of 80, he doesn't need to continually pander to Brexiteer MPs either.  Wankers.

[armaghniac]

Besides the underlying underhandedmess of it all it's  a really strange time to bring such a thing to Parliament, with the EU team due in London for the next round of trade negotiations on Tuesday. it's either some sort of tactic or good old fashioned idiocy. With a majority of 80, he doesn't need to continually pander to Brexiteer MPs either.  Wankers.

I saw somewhere else a conspiracy theory that BoJo would tag along with this kind of thing to pander to the loonies and then switch back to reality near the end in the knowledge that the Brexiteers wouldn't being down the government.

[seafoid]

   https://www.ft.com/content/ad4dfabd-4e9b-4f1b-8b5e-2266287317c7

   The impact of the legislation could be far-reaching, stretching even beyond the bounds of Brexit. Brussels has repeatedly made clear that full implementation of the withdrawal agreement is a prerequisite for any deal on a future relationship, and there is nothing more sensitive for the EU than the painstakingly constructed protocol on Northern Ireland. 

EU political leaders are unanimous: UK failure to apply any aspects of the protocol would cripple trade talks between the two sides. The bloc could not politically countenance a deal with a government trying to wriggle out of an international treaty it negotiated less than a year ago. 

David McAllister, chairman of the European Parliament's UK co-ordination group, said that "mutual confidence and trust is key" to the future relationship. He declined to comment on the UK plans, but said the European Parliament, which has a binding say on trade deals, "expects all the commitments made in the Northern Ireland protocol to be implemented".

The impact of the move on the UK's international reputation could be wider still. Cases of democratic governments seeking to unilaterally overwrite ratified international agreements are rare. 

Worried UK officials are already considering whether Britain can retain the moral authority to, for example, censure China's crackdown in Hong Kong as a breach of international treaty if the government seeks to shave off unpopular features of its withdrawal agreement with the EU.

[Denn Forever]

All these deals that Britain can make when they are out of the EU, who would trust them?

[seafoid]

Sterling is down following extremist rhetoric from the Tories. What are the odds Johnson does a deal and his friends in the City benefit when sterling goes up again ?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TWWNFB8grkw

[seafoid]

   
   https://www.ft.com/content/c2a74c61-7c46-40b4-9fbb-d8a64da27663

   The government is willing to cut its access to its largest market but nervous of the compromises necessary to find new ones. That trade-off means a no-deal Brexit and the reduced spending and regulatory standards necessary to be a buccaneering low-tax state that attracts investment and secures a trade deal with the US. It is a course urged on Mr Johnson by many close to him. But here, too, Tories — rightly — fear the economic and political costs. 

[balladmaker]

Sterling is down following extremist rhetoric from the Tories. What are the odds Johnson does a deal and his friends in the City benefit when sterling goes up again ?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TWWNFB8grkw

No doubt Rees Mogg and his currency trading business are making a fortune!

[bennydorano]

It's not drastically down tho, been hovering between 1.10 -1.12 for ages now, 1.11 this morning. I don't think that's currency speculation territory. The markets are likely assuming it's a negotiation tactic / shot across the bow.