NI protocol

[patman post]

Ah, so now you've gone from Brexit is the devil to exacerbated the problems.

Driven or exacerbated. You appear to be letting love of Johnson cloud your reading as well as your reason...

[Nick]

Brexit, and the inability to get it done, has driven or exacerbated virtually all the current problems plaguing the UK — from lack of qualified staff in hospitality and the NHS and seasonal agricultural and food workers through to lack of income from shrinking export sales (**cue bleating about fastest growing GDP in G7, while ignoring the fact the UK started from an extremely low level and had/has a long way to go**).

The Tories have about 18 months to get the country back, but the bulk of them need to stop the infighting and move the party away from self destruct mode. If they don't, the country's best bet is likely to be Labour...

Ah, so now you've gone from Brexit is the devil to exacerbated the problems. 

[patman post]

Putin invaded Ukraine because he knew damn well that NATO would do nothing, the UK's military capabilities had nothing to do with it. You've just shifted your argument from its all Brecht to NHS one MOD. The fact remains that the problems we have, and the rest of the world have are not driven by Brexit. It's Covid hangover and the Ukraine.

Brexit, and the inability to get it done, has driven or exacerbated virtually all the current problems plaguing the UK — from lack of qualified staff in hospitality and the NHS and seasonal agricultural and food workers through to lack of income from shrinking export sales (**cue bleating about fastest growing GDP in G7, while ignoring the fact the UK started from an extremely low level and had/has a long way to go**).

The Tories have about 18 months to get the country back, but the bulk of them need to stop the infighting and move the party away from self destruct mode. If they don't, the country's best bet is likely to be Labour...

[Nick]

Not at all. You'd do better not to fall into the trap of explaining to other posters what they mean. If you don't understand, you'd do better asking.

Cutting military and materiel by the UK is a clear statement of unpreparedness even if not the intention. So too was the shoulder shrugging at Putin's other exploits.

Too little attention has been given to wealth creation in the UK and too much chasing the danger to sovereignty myth...

Putin invaded Ukraine because he knew damn well that NATO would do nothing, the UK's military capabilities had nothing to do with it. You've just shifted your argument from its all Brecht to NHS one MOD. The fact remains that the problems we have, and the rest of the world have are not driven by Brexit. It's Covid hangover and the Ukraine. 

[patman post]

So you're advocating a NATO country putting boots on the ground in Ukraine? And how do you think that will end? When you corner a Rat it's only escape route is through you!!

Not at all. You'd do better not to fall into the trap of explaining to other posters what they mean. If you don't understand, you'd do better asking.

Cutting military and materiel by the UK is a clear statement of unpreparedness even if not the intention. So too was the shoulder shrugging at Putin's other exploits.

Too little attention has been given to wealth creation in the UK and too much chasing the danger to sovereignty myth...

[patman post]

Was any country in the world ready? NO they weren't, especially not for a man made virus leaked from a laboratory.
How do you prepare for one of the worlds largest grain and fertiliser producers being invaded?

I've not been voted into power because I promised to make Britain great again on the world stage and turn into a nation that others would take notice of and want to ally to, while all the while cutting back on pandemic preparedness, and promising to get to those sunny uplands.

Promises were made. No ifs. No buts, No provisos...

[papasmurf]

Was any country in the world ready? NO they weren't, especially not for a man made virus leaked from a laboratory.
How do you prepare for one of the worlds largest grain and fertiliser producers being invaded?

Nick frankly I could not care less about other countries lack of preparedness. I do care about Britain's lack of preparedness when both Labour and Conservative governments has commissioned 1/2 a dozen reports between them. ALL of the reports came to the conclusion Britain was not prepared for a pandemic and exactly zero was done to prepare. (No buffer stored of PPE, most of which has a 10 year shelf life. The NHS had been defunded since May 2010, the recent extra funding comes nowhere near making up the deficit.)

[Nick]

Isn't this why we have a health service and military...?

So you're advocating a NATO country putting boots on the ground in Ukraine? And how do you think that will end? When you corner a Rat it's only escape route is through you!!

[Nick]

Both the Labour and Tory governments were warned a pandemic could happen at any time and neither did anything about it, despite commissioning half a dozen reports between them. Globalisation was always going to lay Britain wide open to the effects of a war. Britain was unprepared for either.

Was any country in the world ready? NO they weren't, especially not for a man made virus leaked from a laboratory. 
How do you prepare for one of the worlds largest grain and fertiliser producers being invaded?

[papasmurf]

Isn't this why we have a health service and military...?

Both the Labour and Tory governments were warned a pandemic could happen at any time and neither did anything about it, despite commissioning half a dozen reports between them. Globalisation was always going to lay Britain wide open to the effects of a war. Britain was unprepared for either.

[patman post]

I don't recall anyone anticipating a global pandemic or a war in Ukraine, both of which have caused untold issues across Europe.

Isn't this why we have a health service and military...?

[papasmurf]

So brexit has caused no damage to the UK economy. 

Anyone who thinks that has a very serious case of Cognitive Dissonance.

[GerryT]

I don't recall anyone anticipating a global pandemic or a war in Ukraine, both of which have caused untold issues across Europe.

So brexit has caused no damage to the UK economy. Ignore the fact that the UK, once a leading economy in the G7, it's now the worst performing, in fact this yr even Russia is supposed to out perform the UK. But according to you everything else is to blame, brexit is the sunny up lands.

When will you get it, the UK needs the EU, it needs that trade deal. The UK exports/imports so much with the EU, it can't afford to lose that deal. Sunak knows it and so do most rational thinkers. It's why nobody, even the lying clown Johnson, will ditch the NI protocol in favour of forcing a land border in IRL.

As Sunak put it, NI has a fantastic position, being a de-facto member of the EU, now if only the rest of the UK could be so lucky.

But in reality these changes will improve trade GB-NI. All because the UK agreed to data sharing and providing to the EU full disclosure of all trade consignments coming from GB to NI. Trusted traders can now use a green lane, but few companies will get the trusted trader designation. Large companies will, that have the systems for electronic tracking of shipments, that way anything found in the EU that's NI origin, that is not up to EU standards, the EU can take action against that trusted trader. Most all other trade will continue as normal.
As for following Eu rules, any current EU rule then NI will follow that, but new EU rules can be blocked, but the details of how that happens is not fully clear yet. But it would seem to be a very cumbersome process and this sweeps the carpet out from under the destructive DUP. But if rules are permanently blocked then that could push more UK products out from access to the EU, that would affect the full UK.  Time needed for people to digest the deal and get to the nitty gritty of it.  Overall the EU has moved and so has the UK, the really ironic thing is that this could have been had by the UK from day 1, if the UK hadn't been adamant about not data sharing.

[Nick]

As always — it's someone/something else's fault.

The promise of Brexit was that the UK would regain its sovereignty and allow it to control it borders, adequately fund the NHS, bring cheaper food, and activate oven-ready deals around the globe and lead the country into a new era of prosperity.

I don't recall any ifs or buts...

I don't recall anyone anticipating a global pandemic or a war in Ukraine, both of which have caused untold issues across Europe. 

[patman post]

As always — it's someone/something else's fault.

The promise of Brexit was that the UK would regain its sovereignty and allow it to control it borders, adequately fund the NHS, bring cheaper food, and activate oven-ready deals around the globe and lead the country into a new era of prosperity. 

I don't recall any ifs or buts...