Brexit discussion thread XIV (Please read OP before posting)

A good friend of mine works for the police in Essex. He told me that post brexit they had a measurable increase in racism related incidents. Make of that what you will.

Is he angling for a trade war with the EU? It's really weird that he is going after the ECJ angle. This seems a purely political move and not connected at all to how things are conducted on the ground in NI or how checks are implemented.

Is that, dare I say it, a bit of baiting by Coveney? Should he be carrying on like that?

Yes he should because everyone can see what is going on. The Tories literally said it last week on panel press conference. Northern Ireland isn't suffering at all in fact trade has ballooned north to south frost's own words "we will have to do something about that".

Time to call it out for what it is , no deal destructive trade war mongering. This isn't a negotiation it's a facile war for headlines on their home turf because brexit reality has kicked in at home and the Tories are losing ground they need more huge distractions for the plebs to get riled up on and the media engine to feast with.

You could argue they would actually start a real war somewhere for the headlines at this stage . Falklands mark II

100% correct. Spoiling for a political fight, noting more or less. NIP is just the vehicle to facilitate. People of NI are pawns.

His response reminds me of a so called "Tough Guy" I ran into at a disco in my teens.

Tough guy - "You looking at me?"

Me - "No"

Tough Guy - "You calling me a liar?"

The ensuing fight was guaranteed regardless of whether I wanted to fight or not as the Tough Guy had some friends or a girl he wanted to impress.

Sadly as it turns out the Tough Guy had a lot of dysfunctional stuff going on in his life and long story short he ended up a pretty much down and out. We're the same age (early 50's) and the odd time I return to my home town I still see him strolling around and he's a shell of a person who looks about 70 and very frail.

Quite sad really.

Can countries go the same way?

SNIP. Don't dump links please.

Ireland is already partitioned regardless of the (current) open/soft border, reneging on the NIP won't alter the status of partition, it would however harden that position.

The govt is in a no win situation in relation to this event. Attend and they'll be criticised by some for "celebrating" partition, don't go and they'll be snubbing hosts and other attendees they ultimately have to have a working relationship with. Dammed if they do and dammed if they don't.

IMHO the least worst option is to hold their nose, attend the event in a very sober manner and keep their eyes firmly focused on the long term prize.

Deleted.

I completely disagree about this "no win" claim

The vast majority on this entire island see MDH's position as the correct one. That's a pretty big win. All the whinging has come from exactly where you would expect it to come from. The usual duplicitous sorts seeking to score points.

I think Coveney was genuinely taken aback by the idea of the UK introducing a purely political 'red line' into the Protocol issue - this has virtually nothing to do with how the Protocol is implemented on the ground in NI.

It is obvious from Frost's comments that the Tories don't want to resolve the issue. There is too much political capital to be made for them by remaining in a perpetual stand-off with the EU. A Frosty relationship, essentially.

They have shown they can't be trusted and that their promises aren't worth a damn. They are happy to derail the protocol because it is increasing north/south economic cooperation, and showing what a disaster Brexit is for GB. They don't care about threatening our place in the single market. They don't care if they bring about a revival of The Troubles.

The only way we will be truly rid of their dangerous policies on this island is to prepare the groundwork for a border poll. The alternative is to continue to be used as a cynical barganing chip.