Protocol is Groundhog Day for Brexit
Foreign secretary Liz Truss has announced plans to bring forward legislation within weeks, overwriting parts of the postbrexit deal on Northern Ireland.
This will include separate “green” and “red” lanes for goods travelling between Great Britain and Northern Ireland,withthosedestined to stay within the UK freed from Eu-level checks.
Therewillalsobenocrossover between the channels, atleastintheory,withgoods filtering through one or the other depending on their destination.
Ms Truss told MPS the Bill would remove customs paperwork as well as regulatory barriers to goods madetoukstandardsbeing sold in Northern Ireland.
These are all grand ideas – none of which were put forward in a Bill to MPS yesterday – which would be fine, if that isn’t what the Government had been briefing would happen.
Instead a Bill was promised within weeks, at least by summer, with the UK Government appearing to have the same approach to deadlines as your average student.
Yesterday was a policy announcement without policy, a promise of action without any in a bid to pressure the EU into caving or finding a compromise.
It is much like when the Primeministertoldthepublic to prepare for a no-deal Brexit, even spending public money to do so. This is gamesmanship.
Not that this is exclusive to Britain, with the EU promising retaliation, but not saying exactly what that entails.
Both sides want to pressure the other and, while the UK Government could really make the changes it’s promising,itreallydoesnot want to do it.