Despite that trolls are claiming the experts are wrong because the GFA makes no reference to the EU single market and customs union. There is, however, good reason for that. It’s because they were as much issues taken as read, and beyond the need for definition, within that agreement as was the calendar used for the purpose of defining dates. There comes a point when drafting any agreement when what is obvious does not need to be defined: it simply is.
The trolls are right but!
And now Johnson wants to put that border back in place
Well, actuerlly, it’s the EU insisting upon the border.
Yep. And I’m 100% OK with the Irish bearing the cost of regulating goods that flow from North to South.
Oliver Cromwell did nothing wrong.
‘But the trolls are still out supporting Johnson’s right to destroy all he surveys. And in that case I fear Tory MPs will do his bidding.
The consequence is that all the time my sense of foreboding grows.’
This man couldn’t give a flying f$%k about the popular will in most cases and advocates total state control of all aspects of the economy and people’s lives – and he’s filled with a ‘sense of foreboding’ over Northern Ireland. It would be laughable were he still not taken seriously by a minority on the Hard Left.
Tbf to BoJo, actual meaningful Brexit is looking pretty likely. The departure of Scrabble twats such as Sir Jonathan Guy Jones KCB QC from their cushty senior positions is a very positive sign that the Whitehall swamp is losing (on Brexit at least).
Re: Ireland. Our policy should be they’re free to apply to rejoin the United Kingdom but can otherwise piss up a rainbow. Ireland had its chance to work constructively with Britain, but consistently took the posture of an annoying playground shrimp taunting us from behind the back of his bigger mates. They were very foolish to allow the EU to use them as a Brexit blocker and it’s time they felt some real world consequences.
Btw why do we still allow Irish people freedom of movement to the UK? Time to end that shameful legacy of British colonialism. We’ll have to deport Daragh O’Brain but that’s a price I’m willing to pay.
On another thread:
Jim Osborne says:
September 7 2020 at 5:55 pm
The film “Sully” really brings this issue to the fore….a tale of man versus machine . In the showdown scene ofbthe film, as the accident enquiry reaches its finale Sully proves the algorithms were wrong as they took no account of the human factor. Great film and a true story.
Reply
Richard Murphy says:
September 7 2020 at 6:20 pm
Agreed
Reply
It was people who made the original ruling against Sully, not an algorithm. Can’t he get anything right?
The algorithm worked fine in “Sully”. The problem was that in the flight simulations, those running it assumed that a pilot would instantly have known which was the ‘right’ choice to make. Factor in decision time and the algorithm showed that the plane would have crashed. Correctly implemented, it was the algorithm that showed the plane would have crashed under real life conditions.
“Sully proves the algorithms were wrong”
I told you: algorithm is being turned into a scare-word.
“I told you: algorithm is being turned into a scare-word.”
Is this necessarily bad? Surely anything concerning the juxtaposition of mathematical modelling & the public conciousness being brought into disrepute should be welcomed? No good ever comes of it. Those that use algorithms for their proper purposes will hardly be affected.
”
Btw why do we still allow Irish people freedom of movement to the UK? ”
It’s something I’ve never understood, either. For a limited time after independence, I can understand. But why in perpetuity? They wanted independence. Independence is the penalty you pay. Saw far too much of this over the years. The Republic effectively offshored its welfare state.
The 1949 Ireland Act: “Ireland is not a foreign country”. Same with the ex-British overseas possessions. Britain can’t adjust to the mindset that those people are foreigners, they’re not British any more, they all have their own countries. Yet in British law we pretend they are all still really British, just have their own funny flags and their County Councils that they call a Parliament.
Yeah, that.
Pikeys on bail facing trial, learning, very sadly that Uncle John in Wexford (fixed abode, obviously not) has shuffled off his mortal coil, applying for a bail variation to attend the te’bbly, te’bbly sad funwal.
And, oddly enough, Sid Pikey is not heard from again. At least not until he’s sufficiently pissed-off the Guarda, or whatever them Oirishises calls the mumblewoppits, that the Oirisheises wants rid of him.
Whereupon, mirabile dictu: co-oporation with Brit-Plod, and Sid finds himself in durance vile at Brit-plonker-taxpayer expense.
Trebles all round.
You know Boris is doing something right when media, EU & Labour going mental
Barnier in past admitted GFA issue was created by them & RoI when Davis told them “We don’t care, not our problem”
Read GFA and nothing about border, tax, trade
@Steve
and that little shit “comedian” Graham Norton
“ I told you: algorithm is being turned into a scare-word.”
Time to start referring to climate change algorithms.
Watch out, Pcar: there’s theatre at work here.
Pcar,
“Read GFA and nothing about border, tax, trade”
Yeah. It’s also a gross distortion about why we took down the border posts, like without trade, the IRA will kick off again. The border posts being taken down was a result of the GFA, that we no longer needed to worry about arms being shipped from Ireland to the North.
The good thing is that all the power is now with Leave. Boris has a healthy enough majority that he can’t be done over in parliament, and the public has seen how wrong Project Fear repeatedly is.
Pcar September 8, 2020 at 7:07 pm – “Barnier in past admitted GFA issue was created by them & RoI when Davis told them “We don’t care, not our problem””
One of the choicest moments in the Brexit process. Nothing convinces me of the benefits of staying in more than the EU saying “Nice peace deal you got there, be a shame if something happened to it”
I hope Boris does treat Northern Ireland differently from the rest of the UK. I hope he nominates it as a zero tariff, zero excise, zero VAT, enterprise zone. It will do wonders for their economy to have people from Britain popping over to fill their boots with cheap alcohol. But it will drive the Europeans insane if they have to stop people from the Republic of crossing over to buy cheap cigarettes.
‘I hope Boris does treat Northern Ireland differently from the rest of the UK.’
SMFS: That’s not a bad idea, Hong Kong-ize the place. That way there’d be no stupid arguments about if you don’t do this I’ll cut off that.
BoM4: and the public has seen how wrong Project Fear repeatedly is
But the same public is now in thrall to Project Fear v. C-19 because the general population has been innoculated against common sense by hourly shots of media hysteria and daily doses of government diktat.
@BoM4
How long did you spend in NI?
When I was there in early-mid 90s, long before BA/GFA, there were no manned border posts on any roads I crossed border on in car or on bike. Only indicator of crossing was slightly different road surface & markings and no centre cats eyes in RoI
Yes, smuggling happened, mostly fuel, but no big deal, HMC were on it. It’s a red herring distraction created by EU & RoI
On trade: NI/RoI trade is <£5 billion pa – hence 'don't care'
Docu: BBC Brexit – Behind Closed Doors (Storyville – BBC 4)
@SMFS
Yes, I'd love that too and afaik Belfast Harbour is pressing the case for it
NI / RoI border – Truth
It was never a ‘hard border’, even during ‘the troubles’ – no Passport/ID needed
Customs was always spot checks on main roads/rail and pop-ups on others. Post ‘Single Market’ they mostly stopped and moved to internal checks
The border mid 60s – early 90s was a Security, not Trade, “border” same as airports for decades on domestic flights (and that is a GATT getout for EU bollocks)
The EU & RoI and now USA Dems whining is lies. Surprisingly, C4 News guy lost it on USA Dem fearmonger and said “Peeps in NI are not bothered”