I seldom comment on Brexit, largely because I neither see leaving the EU as a panacea nor the EU itself as a Utopia, and am alienated by the over-extravagant passions and claims on both sides. In addition to that, the FCO is largely excluded from Brexit negotiations, being perceived by the Tories as a nest of remainers, so I seldom get any interesting information fed to me by ex-colleagues.
I should admit at this point that my apparently effortless expertise on myriad subjects is something of a fake, because often posts are prompted and informed (and very rarely, even written) by someone on the inside, and sometimes it is not possible to tell you that. But sometimes I can tell you, and today this knowledge comes from the inside.
The Legal Advisers of the FCO remain the UK government’s source of expertise on public international law. When the Attorney General publishes his view on such a matter, it has been drafted by FCO Legal Advisers or at the least is based on a minute from them. The sole exception to this of which I know was when Blair’s Attorney General, Lord Goldsmith, received formal advice from FCO Legal Advisers that to invade Iraq would be an illegal war of aggression. Goldsmith then flew to Washington on instruction from Blair and Goldsmith’s final advice that the war was legal was based on drafting, not from FCO Legal Advisers, but from George Bush’s Legal Advisors. That is one of those incredible facts that I often find hard to understand do not lead to active public outrage. I wish I was a more religious man and could be sure that Hell awaits Goldsmith. I comfort myself with the thought that Goldsmith might himself be religious and cowering.
There is currently considerable alarm in the FCO that Legal Advisers have been asked about the circumstances constituting force majeure which would justify the UK in breaking a EU Withdrawal Agreement in the future. The EU did not fall for Johnson’s idea that a form of Northern Irish “backstop” would only come into effect with the future sanction of Stormont, as this effectively gives a hardline unionist veto, and Barnier was not born yesterday. The situation that Johnson and Raab appear now to contemplate is agreeing a “backstop” now to get Brexit done, but then not implementing the agreed backstop when the time comes due to “force majeure”.
There are two major problems with this line of thinking. The first is that it will give unionists an incentive to foment disorder in order to justify breaking the backstop agreement – indeed there is a concern that might be the tacit understanding Johnson is reaching with the DUP. Remember the British state conspired with the same people to murder the lawyer Pat Finucane and destroyed the evidence as recently as 2002.
The second problem is one of bad faith negotiation, and this is what is troubling the diplomats of the FCO. To negotiate an agreement with the secret intention of breaking it in future is a grossly immoral proceeding, and undermines the whole principle of good international relations. I should like to be able to say that I am sure this cannot be the intention. But when I look at Johnson, Raab and Cummings, I am really not so sure at all. It is possible that Johnson will succeed in the apparently insurmountable challenge of securing a deal all parties can agree, by the simple strategy of promising some parties he has no intention of honouring it.
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If I remember correctly, Peter Oborne said in his book on whether the Iraq invasion was illegal that Goldsmith’s advice was that it was illegal, but not to worry because the only court that could convict the UK was the International court of criminal justice over which the UK had a blocking vote. So it would be impossible to get a conviction.
This petition to stop Blair becoming the President of the EU Council went round in 2008.
https://www.gopetition.com/petitions/against-the-nomination-of-tony-blair-as-president-of-the-european-union.html
It collrcted many tens of thousands of signatures.
See Goldsmith’s Register of Interests.
https://www.parliament.uk/biographies/lords/lord-goldsmith/2490
Smoothing the way to leave a glowing legacy. All past misdemeanors forgotten.
His decision on the legality of the Iraq wear is covered here. Good on Elizabeth Wilmshurst for standing up for her principles.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_Goldsmith,_Baron_Goldsmith
He must be busy with Hong Kong now. Also note his earnings from the US law firm. He was obviously a frequent flyer across the Atlantic at the time.
May he rot in hell listening to the screams of Iraqi children having their dressings changed.
Remember the brave boy, Ali Abbas, whose limbs and torso were incinerated from a napalm bomb blast that killed his parents and sibling.
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/chilcot-report-iraq-war-orphan-ali-tony-blair-what-the-orphan-who-became-a-symbol-of-the-iraq-war-a7120506.html?amp
Sharp Ears…
I Know you are interested in New Stuff from Neil Clark –
Go to 1 Hour 56 mins –
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IjF8m6sICFs
Patrick Henningsen – and Whitney Webb are on the show too. Both Brilliant.
Thanks Brian. Do you know if there were any further developments ref Kamm?
https://fundrazr.com/profiles/neil-clark
This tweet of Kamm’s ref Philip Cross is laughable in view of the actuality and the facts.
https://twitter.com/OliverKamm/status/1184159269534470144
Sorry if this has already been posted – more from Neil Clark, this is an article on the problems he’s had with Philip Cross.
https://sputniknews.com/columnists/201910131077038943-andrew-philip-cross-wikipedia-editing-scandal-continues-but-for-how-much-longer/
So Goldsmith is tied up with FIFA. I bet that‘s
a nice little earnerprofessionally advantageous.So it’s him and the footie, and it’s his Tory lawyer friend Michael Howard and the race horses. What a cute pair of sports fans they must make.
Continuing the theme, Trump’s inviting Harry Dunn’s parents to come and see him personally, in his house, if they think they are experiencing an injustice was the classic act of a Sicilian mafia don.
(He used to encourage people to call him “the Don”. Everyone in NYC knows what that means.)
The Dunns won’t be any trouble to anybody now. White House, dark glasses at the airport, saying they’ll only meet Sacoolas if “mediators and therapists” are present! No trouble for anyone. They are letting other people tell them the points they should attack at, and how they should frame their struggle. And that advice is not given with their own best interests at heart. They are being used, and sadly they seem to have no idea how to fight against it.
Deal or no deal?
What do you choose a hard or soft brexit?
Or no brexit al all,
perhaps a recount is in order?
We voted for the illusion of a choice, and that;s what we got, a farce.
fredi
Fact –
You Got something Based On Lies.. All Of them
Same as Oor Indy ref WON BASED ON LIES
Just ask the bbC.
Indy ref We LOST Over Better Together Lies. the War Mongering Bastards. Ben Jnr Fuck him
Benn is one of the sneakiest warmongering bastards at Westminster, that’s for sure. Remember his speech arguing for attacking Syria… he was almost in tears as he told us how it was the moral thing to do, in keeping with good old fashioned labour values, the brotherhood of man, etc.
Utter scum. I’d love the SNP to do a deal with the Tories rather than Labour. And that’s a deal that’s just waiting to happen.
The SNP line that the Tories are their main enemy is a conscious lie that they feed to moronic punters outside of the Partei and to some of the lower-ranking door-knockers inside it. The Partei leadership knows that the main enemy is Labour and the idea of working class struggle. They know they’re McTories in all but name, who perhaps like the state a bit more because of all the grants.
The reason they don’t call for a Scottish general election to try to regain the parliamentary majority that the Scottish people took away from them is they haven’t got the guts to risk having their snouts pulled out of the trough.
N, I’m sorry to remind you that your working class struggle was pronounced dead about 3 decades ago. Your beloved Labour Party unplugged the life support machine.
There’s something to be said for the innocence that a child-like mind brings to politics but it’s also a lot of hard work.
I haven’t heard the SNP announce anyone was their main enemy, adults don’t really talk like that about politics, but, whatever the case may be, they seem to be trouncing them.
The d’hondt system of PR is designed to prevent any single party dominating and it does. It’s remarkable that the SNP ever won a majority in holyrood, and they’re the only party to ever have done so.
Polls put the SNP way ahead right now so your timing is ridiculously bad.
What is this “partei” shtick meant to be, I wonder, apart from implying a German political party of some kind, therefore nudge nudge the Nazis, innit? Next time anyone mentions Partei down here, I’m going to withdraw the generous funding of this blog that I’ve been intending to get round to. Fair warning, N_ (and Sharps too for that matter).
For those who ‘support’ MMT?
“EU Basics – Your Guide to the UK Referendum on EU Membership”
https://professorwerner.org/eu-basics-your-guide-to-the-uk-referendum-on-eu-membership/
Good old Richard Werner
Werner s link to the work of Richard Aldrich who wrote an excellent paper on American,CIA involvement in the early years of the the EU is essentially interesting
“Goldsmith then flew to Washington on instruction from Blair and Goldsmith’s final advice that the war was legal was based on drafting, not from FCO Legal Advisers, but from George Bush’s Legal Advisors. That is one of those incredible facts that I often find hard to understand do not lead to active public outrage.”
I had no idea of this. Perhaps I looked at news websites too hastily. Was it reported in the main media, or was there any correspondence in letters pages?
‘Tony Blair was warned by his government’s chief law officer that an invasion of Iraq would be illegal the day before he privately assured President George Bush he would support US-led military action, documents released today by the Chilcot inquiry reveal.
They provide an unprecedented insight into how Lord Goldsmith, then the attorney general, repeatedly warned the prime minister of the potential consequences of invading Iraq without fresh UN authority – much to Blair’s irritation.
Goldsmith changed his view shortly before the invasion on 20 March 2003.
The papers were declassified by Sir Gus O’Donnell, the cabinet secretary. In a letter to Sir John Chilcot, he said he did so because of the “very exceptional” nature of the inquiry. It was a “longstanding convention” that legal advice to ministers was not published but arguments about the legality of the war in Iraq had a “unique status”, O’Donnell says.’
https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2010/jun/30/chilcot-inquiry-lord-goldsmith-blair
The war went on for over 8 years – 20 Mar 2003 – 18 Dec 2011
Now the survivors from the second ‘Battle of Falujah’ are committing suicide.
15 Years After the Iraq War’s Deadliest Battle, Marines Fight to Save Their Comrades
https://www.military.com/daily-news/2019/10/13/15-years-after-iraq-wars-deadliest-battle-marines-fight-save-their-comrades.html
Note there is no mention there of what is happening to the Iraqi survivors.
“15 Years After the Iraq War’s Deadliest Battle”
That should read “15 years after Iraq’s Worst War Crime”
Exactly Deb..Well Said .. Although the Wording might be important.. 15 years after the West’s Worst War Crime on Iraq.
Yes, thanks for clarifying what I meant.
Yes Goldsmith changed his view, but like that cat that was never there the now slinked away John Reid used Goldsmiths revised opinion as justification for the ensuing war of aggression. There were others too with blood on there hands.
Two can play at cheating. M. Barnier’s not going to do a deal with us so long as he can see the Benn Act and a no confidence in the PM within range. Nobody in their right mind would do a deal with a mandate less British chances.
Especially if your legacy rested on his honesty.
Would you give the keys of your BMW to you 5 year old son?
I doubt they would ever have to prove force majeure in a court. Behind the so-called “moral” issue is money. Be too dishonest when you sign agreements and nobody’s going to lend Britain any money except at huge rates and making sure to extract cast-iron collateral commitments. Which is, of course, all right for moneylenders. This is why it’s not good to get the reputation as a p*ss-taker on top of Britain’s age-old reputation for perfidy which is worldwide except among elite members who can be bought off with a few mill in a Channel Islands account, boarding school places for their offspring, and a couple of lunches in wood-panelled rooms in St James’s or an older college at one of Britain’s “two universities”, and who love phrases such as “Savile Row” and “Harley Street” and are so stupid as to think snobbish sarcasm is sophisticated.
When the ship’s going down, who gives a monkey’s about the long term, even in the senior echelon at the Foreign Office? ”F*ck the brand. Show me the money!”
Peter Goldsmith won’t be feeling guilty about anything whatsoever. The evil have no conscience. Also not every religion encourages guilt, let alone – in the case of an ethnic religion – guilt with respect to the treatment of outsiders. He’s not a Calvinist or Methodist who enjoys the delicious combination of pleasure and guilt felt while ripping people off and lying and robbing all day every day and then going to church on Sunday. He’s not a guilty pleasure type.
The DUP is representing a tiny minority in N Ireland and they are the only party who want a UK border in the island of Ireland. I hope Boris doesn’t agree not to have a border and then allows one after we leave the EU.
(That probably sounded more coherent before you had it translated into English.)
In Northern Ireland there are many people who will be happy to use guns to get their way, minority or not. For the past few years they have been kept under control. Use your imagination, and think what might be going to happen if they get cross again.
Yet another “deadline” bites the dust.
No rabbit out of the hat from Boris today then!
The media revealed the secret of the “Russian submarine”, which allegedly was discovered in Sweden in 2014. The secret is revealed: the Swedes took a broken buoy for a Russian submarine
The secret is revealed: the Swedes took a broken buoy for a Russian submarine
Which formed part of their campaign to seriously increase military spending. A very successful ‘mistake’.
Actually, later Swedes found a sunk Russian submarine. From WWI. So perhaps in 2014 they have seen “afterimages”.
The HoC is expected to sit on this coming Saturday.
‘The last time the House of Commons convened on a Saturday was after Argentina invaded the Falklands in 1982.’ Look how that turned out. There was terrible loss and waste of life – ‘ In total, 649 Argentine military personnel, 255 British military personnel, and three Falkland Islanders died during the hostilities.’
The old witch is dead though.
Your figures do not include subsequent suicides. The MOD admits to a figure of 95!
I do not know what the figure is for Argentina.
https://www.bmj.com/content/346/bmj.f3204
So the Legal advisers of the Foreign Office draft the opinions on international law – no wonder the government blunders from one legal disaster to another. Lets hope they can do a bit better with foiling the disgraceful Benn Act.
Who would you expect to do that work?
The choice of a permanent tory parliament or committing to a corporate proto fascist euro army was unpalatable and I’ll likewise not vote for either option next time and if you vote for it, you own it.
I heard Peter Mandelson being interviewed on the radio this morning. I was expecting another episode of the traditional BBC Remoanathon and clearly so was he. It didn’t quite work out that way. There he was, whingeing away in his neocon manner, when he divulged that he was later going to Brussels. The interviewer, bless her heart, had the temerity to ask him who was funding this jaunt. He didn’t answer of course but did get very cross at the interviewer.s impertinence and went off in a huff before he could finish his schtick. Made my day.
Margaret Hodge’s Past Won’t Stay Buried
Hodge – who rebuffed her staff’s pleas to protect Islington children from the KNOWN paedophile ring that infested HER care homes while SHE was council chief – is confronted with the scandal she thought she’d buried
WATCH HERE (starts at 1:03:25): https://youtu.be/18ac-AjR8E0?t=
another one who ‘jumped the shark’ screaming trope!
Good work. And “Johnny Come Home” is still not available on any website. Some of the named abusers in those films have been protected ever since. An Islington connection goes through the PIE.
The NSA have denied that Jonathan Sacoolas works for them.
That leaves the CIA, the other US three-letter agency he’s been said in the British media to work for. The CIA are keeping their traps shut. What does that tell you?
No news yet on what Hit and Run Girl’s job is. I suspect she was following training :
* don’t assume any crash you’re involved in in the host country is an accident, even if you think you caused it;
* if you’re travelling without personal protection, get yourself to a place of safety ASAP.
And where was hubby at the time of the crash?
Several important pieces of information are being kept quiet here. That’s how D Notices work.
Why would you donate over 800,000 pounds over ten years to the Tories? Why not when you have the same goals , regime change in Syria being one of them. Investigations by the SFA is not a deterrent to help your friends is it?
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/ayman-asfari-boris-johnson-tory-donor-oil-deal-syria-war-a9122136.html
Sorry For O.T –
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KAs4c3_opmA&
Why Has Peter Gabriel not tried to Visit Julian..What ever Happened to the Grand ‘ Elders ‘ project ????
While the minutes slip by and bobo jumps up and declares a unilateral declaration of independence.
1.Trump revealed it was bobo’s idea to engineer the meeting in the WH! His name will be Mudd by the time the British families media appearances get public opinion behind them. Afaik, Trump hasn’t confirmed diplomatic status ;
2. The end game in NE Syria is moving like greased lightning.
Magnier and Al Masdar are reporting the MAIN towns have just been taken over by the Syrians.
3. The fake news merchants – such as Chulov of the Groaniad has stopped stuffing articles out as free movement from Turkey for the embeds evaporated.
No single mention of White Helmets for ages now! Or the fake doctors.
I love it when a plan comes together! Back to bobo suicide ‘do or die’ watch.
4. Could a faulty central heating boiler be giving you monoxide poisoning?
Yup great gas lighting.
This just popped up
‘The letter, which is dated October 9, begins: “Let’s work out a good deal! You don’t want to be responsible for slaughtering thousands of people, and I don’t want to be responsible for destroying the Turkish economy — and I will.”
Trump concludes the letter: “Don’t be a tough guy. Don’t be a fool!” ‘
Potus to Erdogan.
I’m happy with this gas.
Breathe more oxygen instead 🙂
The initial reason for the backstop was that the EU does not believe the UK is negotiating in good faith.
I think it was more of a concern with taking Theresa May’s word for it and knowing that there was a an anti-EU wing in her own party actively trying to remove her and replace her with one of their own. One could make an argument that if it wasn’t for the ERG the problematic (for them) backstop would not have been necessary in the first place, considering that in the trade negotiations after the withdrawal the UK will be attempting to gain access to the single market anyway.
What a suggestion! BoJo is an honourable man, that’s why everyone (well, perhaps not quite everyone!) took his word on why he prorogued Parliament.
Politicians, who will fake incidents to give them an excuse to invade or attack other countries, can hardly be expected to be honourable in any circs. Not that BoJo’s had enough time yet, but methinks he would snap up the chance to take the heat off himself with a ‘good war’.
Wishing Craig a Happy Birthday and many more.
Wow, Mr. Murray’s birthday! Many happy returns of the day, Mr. Murray!
+1
Bad luck Craig. You share your birthday with Chuka.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Database_reports/Birthday_today
Could somebody with a Wikipedia account please remove the words ‘conspiracy theorist’ from Craig’s entry.
Agreed!
Hello, very much a reader of CM’s blog rather than a commenter, but on this occassion I feel one arguement that is never presented is the one that everything we are witnessing right now, is all smoke and mirrors and the UK has no intention whatsoever of leaving the EU.
The whole affair has been a shambles from the get go, the media have bombarded thier audiences every single day since the refferendum about brexit. I know several people from both leave and remain perspecitives who are fed up with the whole brexit show being played out, some have running jokes regarding the news and how refreshing it is to hear something about brexit,
The folk in the shadow, our own shadow government doesn’t want us to leave, we only have democracy when we vote the right way, look across the water to the USA and one sees what happens when folk vote the wrong way, the witchhunt directed at a US sitting president is unprecendented, regardless on ones views about him, what we are seeing is how the very rich and powerful who hide out of sight are running the show on many levels.
UK isn’t going anywhere, we never was, I would bet my house on it.
I agree with some aspects of your post. My view is that there was never a serious consideration that Leave would win, therefore no serious effort put into the framing of the remain campaign or post referendum negotiation strategy. When faced with the consequences, which were only fully assessed after the vote, there was a paralysis within the establishment as to how to proceed which wasn’t helped by Cameron pissing off and leaving others to clear the mess up. The fight within the establishment now seems to be between damage limitation BRINO and the hard right leavers, who desperately want to get out of the ECJ jurisdiction in order to turn the country into an unregulated (lawless) fiefdom of the extremely wealthy.
Would you describe people such as Michael Foot, Tony Benn and Peter Shore as “hard right leavers”
Do you have any idea why substantially all of Jeremy Corbyn’s beliefs are in lock step with the people named above with the single exception of the EU? Do you have any idea why Jeremy Cprbyn appears on Venezuelan TV speaking Spanish eulogising Tony Benn and excoriating the EU – but when he speaks in English he says the more or less the same things about Tony Benn but substantially different things about the EU?
I don’t see what point you are attempting to make by referencing Michael Foot, Tony Benn and Peter Shore as they are not part of the hard-right group I alluded to, namely the ERG. Some left wingers are anti-EU but most aren’t, and nearly all would agree that peoples rights are better protected under EU legislation that what the the Tory government has lined up. And why bring up Corbyn and Venezuela?
Hi LCatt, I’m sorry that you can’t see clearly that the Brexit referendum was set up over a long period of time and that it would have been used to get a hard brexit as the only means of letting the City escape legally – if the EU refused their demands for special treatment any more (the UK veto was not effective any more).
The referendum was not a fair election.
It was daylight ROBBERY by the biggest and oldest thieves in history.
The slim margin was calculated, so that people wouldn’t look too closely at the un-anticipated outcome. The polls days before had 55-45 remain!
It was massive vote stuffing. It was built on methods used in the Scottish referendum and the 2015 election.
Proof?
1. Turnout – 73% average is high, but the average hides area by area turnout. Quite a few areas were well in excess of 73% – some in the 80’s! Levels not seen in an advanced democracy with free elections. Only in dictatorships where vote stuffing is used.
2. How?
It wasn’t just the illegal billion adverts targeting a million voters with multiple Farcebook users as ‘Dr Strangelove’ Cummings, crowed about, it was the POSTAL BALLLOTS.
Funny not so easy to find the numbers from the Electoral Commission on an area by area numbers of postal votes. (I wonder why?)
But interesting that Postal vote usage went up massively from 2010 ! – The heist was long planned.
You are right the ‘Thiefs’ don’t really want to lose any of the EU benefits, they don’t really care how much we contribute.
They only want ONE thing – that their ancient City can carry on hiding and doging taxes from all over the globe for the psychopathic plutocrats, free from expanding EU regulation and fair play.
The moment the City is free with a Hard brexit the thieves will arrange a swift rejoining of the EU at any price to keep the natives happy.
But as Merkel put it last month – she, and the EU are not going to let that Singapore on Thames carry on its devious works on the edge of their continent any more!
It is a much much bigger fight than just some bs sovereignty/free trade – it is a global war by Mammon and the Robber Barons against the rest of humanity.
Happy days Craig – the sequela wheel turns…
The news this morning is awful. It looks like Boris Johnson has ‘a deal’. Hate and bigotry have apparently triumphed over tolerance and openness. I am very depressed. In my youth, I travelled to all but two countries in Europe, without a visa and with just a passport. Now the speculators have won, and the 1% are going to get even richer. I hate our species.
Maybe you should try and keep up with events. I learn from a variety of English millionaires that Bulgaria is infested with hatred and bigotry. Given that Bulgaria is part of the EU then why do you want to be in a union with hate filled bigots? Or maybe you think that the English millionaires are lying.
November 10th looks like being a good day for Europe when people who are proud to be identified as fascists look like they will be successful in gaining an increased share of the vote in Spain (a country that knows a thing or two about actual fascism). For what reason (other than being a fascist yourself) would you want to be in a union with fascists?
If you were able to develop a more consistent and coherent understanding of events perhaps you would not be filled with so much self loathing.
Why bother, when we all have such clever people as you, to keep us right?
Because if you bothered then you would realize that I am completely irrelevant. I am not responsible for determining why you wish to be in a union with hate filled bigots and fascists. Only you can decide why such people are so appealing to you.
If they are not appealing to you then maybe you are ideologically possessed. I cannot free you from ideological possession. Only you can do that for yourself.
Wow. I thought my sarcasm was subtle. Obviously too subtle.
Sarcasm and inanity are two entirely different words with entirely different meanings
Actually the EU may invoke the nuclear option known as Article 7 under the Lisbon treaty on Spain.
Spain can be punished for not abiding with EU tenets.
You and your mate Yaxley Lennon, the puffpiece islamophobe are as bigotted as Boris Breivig and Mrs. Phillips, Loony. You are not setting examples here.
@Andrew Sloane: “It looks like Boris Johnson has ‘a deal’.”
No the DUP has blocked it.
‘No the DUP has blocked it.’
Sure that’ll change once the Tories bung another billion quid their way.
“SCHEDULE 3
Border security
PART 1
Powers
Power to stop, question and detain
1(1)An examining officer may question a person for the purpose of determining whether the person appears to be a person who is, or has been, engaged in hostile activity if condition 1 or condition 2 is met.
(2)Condition 1 is met if—
(a)the person is at a port or in the border area, and
(b)the examining officer believes that the person’s presence at the port or in the border area is connected with the person’s—
(i)entry into, or departure from, Great Britain or Northern Ireland, or
(ii)travel by air within Great Britain or Northern Ireland”.
(4)An examining officer may exercise the powers under this paragraph whether or not there are grounds for suspecting that a person is or has been engaged in hostile activity.
4(1)For the purposes of exercising a power under paragraph 1 or 2 an examining officer may—
(a)stop a person or vehicle;
(b)detain a person.
These are taken from the Counter Terrorism and Border Security Act 2019. Highlights threats to the UK from terrorism on its border on the island of Ireland.
From the view point of the law, the UK has to put border infrastructure posts on the island of Ireland to allow an EXAMINING OFFICER (Border Guards) to carry out their duties i.e checking vehicles and people. This is against the Good Friday Agreement as it hinders free movement of people.
As Craig Murray points out,
“There are two major problems with this line of thinking. The first is that it will give unionists an incentive to foment disorder in order to justify breaking the backstop agreement – indeed there is a concern that might be the tacit understanding Johnson is reaching with the DUP. Remember the British state conspired with the same people to murder the lawyer Pat Finucane and destroyed the evidence as recently as 2002”.
The ‘law and order’ issues on the border will be the ‘incentive’ to impose border checks, which run counter to the Good Friday Agreement. This is their “force majeure” i.e
force majeure
/ˌfɔːs maˈʒəː/
noun
1.
LAW
unforeseeable circumstances that prevent someone from fulfilling a contract.
Even though the UK parliament has passed this Counter Terrorism and Border Security Act 2019 which clearly stipulates border controls and checks. This act can be turned on and off as the UK government sees fit. Johnson may want to ask people to look away with this deal But the law requires them to build infrastructure border posts on the border to allow examining officers to carry out their duties. The UK government couldn’t claim force majeure as they are planning for the expected.
The shameful way the MPs at Westminster passed this law without proper scrutiny is beyond comprehension, but not surprising. Counter Terrorism laws have never had ‘border security’ attached to it. The Border Security element was introduced due to Russia.with the loud shouts of ‘watch out for those snidey Russians’, Corbyn is ‘soft on Russia’ etc. was always an issue. And either by design or default the Skripal poisoning was the reason that the border element was forced into the Counter Terrorism and Border Security ACT 2019.
Another element of the Johnson deal and look the other way is the Trade and customs legislation in particular with the Rees Mogg’s amendment – 55 Single United Kingdom customs territory
(1)It shall be unlawful for Her Majesty’s Government to enter into arrangements under which Northern Ireland forms part of a separate customs territory to Great Britain.
(2)For the purposes of this section “customs territory” shall have the same meaning as in the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade 1947 as amended.
Disobeying UK laws are now top priority for sections of the ruling class. But not surprising really, considering it’s their democracy and they can take notice of the law or not. The paralysis of the ruling class is clear for all to see and ‘anti democratic’ nature of the Tories section of the 1% is nor surprising. The vicious rise of fascistic chauvinism ‘blame all and sundry’ rather the the really cause degenerate capitalism is what lies ahead. It doesn’t matter whether the UK are in the EU or not, further fascist legislation and snooping, slump austerity, trade war and shooting war is on the cards and happening now. The only solution is for the working class to take power and end this outdated dictatorship of capital racket, that’s has led to 2 world wars and thousands of violent imperialist interventions, under the dictatorship of the proletariat. .
Great post, Tarla.
You’ve properly identified that it matters not whether the UK remains in the EU or not. It is a mere distraction.
“The shameful way the MPs at Westminster passed this law without proper scrutiny is beyond comprehension, but not surprising.”
This is how fascism creeps into so called democratic governments, by constantly chipping away at peoples rights and freedoms in the name of a faceless enemy. MPs are too frightened to reject anti-terror laws less they be tarred with a ‘soft on terrorism’ brush by the media and personally blamed for every subsequent terrorist atrocity.
Johnson’s Brexit ‘deal’ – ‘On a par’ with Theresa May’s effort according to the some of the commentariat.. ‘A sell out’ according to Corbyn.
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/new-protocol-on-irelandnorthern-ireland-and-political-declaration
Documents –
Revised Protocol to the Withdrawal Agreement
PDF, 439KB, 63 pages
Revised Political Declaration
PDF, 218KB, 26 pages
Unilateral Declaration on Consent
PDF, 58.9KB, 3 pages
So, what’s the story?
Parliament couldn’t get a Brexit deal done in three years. Boris Johnson is in the job 5 minutes and gets a deal done.
How?
Isn’t it basically the same deal as May’s or there abouts?
The SNP should back it on the grounds of obtaining a S30 order and having the power to hold referendums as a devolved power.
The so-called “Deal” hasn’t passed the Commons yet, so it hasn’t yet succeeded. Theresa May had a “Deal”, but if you still have a memory, you will remember that it failed because it didn’t pass parliament, as indeed Johnson’s has not done. Me, I’m suspending judgement until the Deal does pass.
Maybot and Remain are primarily to blame because by refusing a compromise Brexit they forced a choice between No Deal or Remain which according to the plan Remain expect to win, whether in a parliamentary vote or in a 2nd referendum with those options, but such an outcome would collapse confidence in democracy. Hence why Remain are promoting Hate Crime legislation to create a big brother police state to deal with civil unrest.
The problem for the conservatives is a failure to Leave
The problem for the conservatives is a failure to Leave will result in wipe-out but they think No Deal will avoid wipe-out but will wreck the British Union and hand the General Election to Corbyn.
Trumps dealings with Turkey remain all about Germany. Given that Germany is all about the EU then Trumps dealings with Turkey remain all about the EU.
Aint it strange how pro EU forces never seem to explain how any of this can act to the benefit of the UK
Assuming that at least you know what you’re trying to say… oh forget it.