Logistics UK says it learned today that the Smart Freight System being developed by the government for handling cross-border trade won’t be ready for Jan

Well, who’d have thunk it? A government IT project behind schedule? Did they mention which January they were referring too? 2030? 2035? No mention of the inevitable cost increases? What do we reckon? triple the original estimate? quadruple?

Well, who’d have thunk it? A government IT project behind schedule? Did they mention which January they were referring too? 2030? 2035? No mention of the inevitable cost increases? What do we reckon? triple the original estimate? quadruple?

I’m sure someone will be along on January 2nd to say that it will be ready ‘within weeks’, and ‘world-beating’ as well.

It seems only fitting for this country that the seamless, invisible border solutions proposed by David Davis – just keep saying the word ‘technology’ and everything will be fine – is now going to be thousands of jobsworth blokes in hi-vis jackets, wielding clipboards.

The perfect image for ‘Global Britain’

A government IT project behind schedule?

Are systems in place in Ireland, Holland and France? (of course they are)

Did the EU offer to give us more time to put our systems in place? (of course they did)

Brilliant Binners

Lord keen the advocate general for Scotland has now resigned over the NI issue. As cherry points out is going to be very hard for the tories to find someone to replace him.

Just can’t stop making a mental connection with what appears to be a recent crazed rush and acceleration of behaviour with the diasppearance of a certain MP over the summer.

Is there a separate EU thread? With what’s happening in Poland and all…

Start a thread on Poland’s anti LGBT+ laws… and the MEPs pushing for action… I’ll see you there… let’s see how long it can stay open…

https://www.irishtimes.com/news/world/uk/trumpite-boris-johnson-wants-eu-to-fail-former-british-diplomat-says-1.4356233?mode=amp

anyone shocked?

Just in…

Joe Biden
@JoeBiden
We can’t allow the Good Friday Agreement that brought peace to Northern Ireland to become a casualty of Brexit.

Any trade deal between the U.S. and U.K. must be contingent upon respect for the Agreement and preventing the return of a hard border. Period.

And this from Congress to johnson…

Chair @RepEliotEngel leads bipartisan effort calling on UK to honor Good Friday Agreement while negotiating Brexit.

In a letter to @BorisJohnson, they warned that Congress will not support a 🇺🇸-🇬🇧 free trade agreement if Britain fails to uphold commitments with Northern Ireland. pic.twitter.com/iw0WF6ZYBS

— House Foreign Affairs Committee Dems (@HouseForeign) September 15, 2020

I was privileged to visit Northern Ireland last weekend for the first time. Quite humbling to see the scenes of the Troubles close up. I defy anyone who has been there not to consider the primacy of the Good Friday Agreement over some petty Brexit negotiation. The US are telling (yes telling) us the way forward. We ignore it at our peril.

So sending Raab over there hasn’t been such a success

I’m shocked, he seems such a charming & honest person

I defy anyone who has been there not to consider the primacy of the Good Friday Agreement over some petty Brexit negotiation.

Having spent a lot of time over there at the height of the troubles (in ‘Bandit Country’/ South Armagh), the one thing that annoys me most about Brexit (and there are many things) is the casual disregard with which the GFA is being put in jeopardy.

Only the most deranged lunatic would flirt with anything that risked a return to the violence of the past. But thats where we are. We do indeed have deranged lunatics at the wheel. Everything must be sacrificed on the alter of their nationalist populism.

It’s coming to something when the present American administration is telling us that we’re being reckless.

The fact that this country is advocating breaking international law is bad enough. That the issue they’re doing that over is one that threatens to plunge an area of the UK back onto a de facto war footing is beyond madness. Its not just that they don’t understand the politics of NI (they don’t), they don’t even want to. They just don’t care.

Its absolutely insane!

We will soon be (or are) moving from the sellers of Brexit saying the NI situation is a “non-problem” or solvable via “technology”… to where we all know they will end up… using the Brexit mess to try and diminish the Irish government and Irish people (both sides of the border), and trying to make them do as we say, not as they seek to agree with their partners in the EU. While for many who supported Brexit the NI situation is just an inconvenience they don’t have the means to do away with… amongst those pushing it hardest there are some who seek to damage the interests of the EU, Ireland, and anyone in NI who isn’t a Union Flag waver… to not recognise that and act accordingly (be that key responsible people in positions of power in the EU, USA or UK) would be very dangerous.

We will soon be (or are) moving from the sellers of Brexit saying the NI situation is a “non-problem” or solvable via “technology”… to where we all know they will end up… using the Brexit mess to try and diminish the Irish government and Irish people (both sides of the border), and trying to make them do as we say, not as they seek to agree with their partners in the EU.

I believe the fashionable turn of phrase for Northern Ireland in the context of Brexit/GFA is ‘loose ends’.

Populist shysters.

Our problem is, that from the point of view of an American politician of any stripe, there is little or no political capital for an American politician to successfully sign a free trade agreement with Britain. The very closeness of the relationship means the best response they could hope for from their electorate would be “so what?”, and some of their voters would be hostile to any agreement.
Balancing this, particularly on the eastern seaboard, the mid west and the south (basically anywhere with an Irish population) the consequences of being seen to be “selling out the old country to the Brits” would be an electoral drubbing. Little upside, considerable downside and a certain knowledge that we need them much more than they need us means we will have lots of polite meetings, but no progress unless it is us rolling over and letting the US walk all over us.

the consequences of being seen to be “selling out the old country to the Brits” would be an electoral drubbing

Which is precisely why we will never get back anything we lose on, for example, the NHS.

Once US Pharma and Healthcare Insurance are balls deep, no US administration would be willing or able to reverse it.

Once US Pharma and Healthcare Insurance are balls deep, no US administration would be willing or able to reverse it.

Everything about Brexit has the word ‘irreversible’ stamped all over it.

This is a ram raid. It is a once in a lifetime opportunity for the hard-right disaster capitalists to tear up 70 years of socially liberal progress and return us to the social realities of the 1930’s.

No NHS. No welfare state. No workers Rights. No environmental controls. A moneyed elite of untouchable robber barons in complete control of the nation and a population regarded as little more than cannon fodder and serfs.

They need complete chaos in need to facilitate this. Hence the headlong rush for No Deal. Nothing less will provide them with the cover they need.

When we’re plunged into bedlam in January, just watch the speed with which the cornerstones of a civilised society, that we presently take for granted, will be torched. They’ve been planning for this moment for decades. They won’t waste a second.

Binners in fine form today

For the last 4 years I’ve been becoming Marvin. The transition has been fully completed over the last few months

Rare sighting of Binners…

Ladies and gentlemen…. the UK Foreign Secretary….

“May I ask you. Have you read the Good Friday Agreement?” To which Dominic Raab replied: “Well, I haven’t sat down, and started from the beginning and gone through it.”pic.twitter.com/W6F7DfRGCV

— Emma DeSouza (@EmmandJDeSouza) September 16, 2020

You’d think that as the central conundrum of the Brexit he campaigned for he might have set aside the time to read the whole 35 pages of the GFA, but no. Why would he do that?

…the Center parcs welcome brochure probably runs to 40 pages

Or , as it’s Raab we re talking about ‘american psycho’ by Bret Easton Ellis. 500 pages?

Word count comparison – for context:
– GFA 12,000 words
– Matilda by Roald Dahl 40,000 words

In general…
Novel – 40,000+ words
Novella – 17,500 to 40,000 words
Novelette – 7,500 to 17,500 words
Short story – upto 7,500 words

How many words has raab read to his children over the course of 2 or 3 nights?

How little effort would it take to read and understand 12,000 words of plainly written text?

Raab couldn’t read the instructions on a pot noodle never mind the GFA

It’s indicative of how seriously this lot and their ‘we’ve had enough of experts’ mentality take their responsibilities. ie: hardly, at all.

Right from the top down with Boris ‘Details Man’ Johnson who clearly still hasn’t read either the withdrawal agreement or the GFA either.

Raab has form. Remember that this is the man who as Brexit secretary was not only surprised to discover how dependent the UK, as an Island, was on its ports, but he openly vocalised this pig ignorance and stupidity on live TV.

He was actually so dense that he didn’t even realise that informing the world of this groundbreaking discovery would signal up to anyone who was in any doubt that he’s as thick as mince. If anyone over the age of 4 had told you this, you’d think they were a bit slow on the uptake.

Has anyone ever asked the Pope if he’s sat down and read the entire Bible? I bet he just skimmed through to the relevant bits – I mean, all that ‘x begat y’ stuff, who needs it? Just pick out the verses that say gays will burn in hell, and the jobs a good’un.

Has anyone ever asked the Pope if he’s sat down and read the entire Bible?

In fairness to the Pope, he actually needs an international trade agreement if he wants to nip out for a paper, panini and 20 B&H.

Raab couldn’t read the instructions on a pot noodle never mind the GFA

The GFA is written in very simple and concise language.. A five year old could understand it.

For very good reasons it seems, to stop future dodgy PMs and MPs trying to misinterpret it.

I’d wager it’s more difficult to work out how much boiling water you should put in a pot noodle, than it is to misunderstand the GFA.

to stop future dodgy PMs and MPs trying to misinterpret it.

Ha! Who needs to misinterpret it when you can just pretend it doesn’t exist? That’ll teach you to overestimate the integrity and intelligence of the UK Government.

Ha! Who needs to misinterpret it when you can just pretend it doesn’t exist? That’ll teach you to overestimate the integrity and intelligence of the UK Government.

Yes, more the fool, me. Which is actually what the rest of the world is thinking about trusting the UK in any future trade agreements.

Raab couldn’t read the instructions on a pot noodle never mind the GFA

Dominic ‘Doh so this Dover place is actually quite important’ Raab.

Thick, arrogant, dissembling, disingenuous, dismissive cockwomble. Just like his boss.

And Boris Johnson.

You’d think that as the central conundrum of the Brexit he campaigned for he might have set aside the time to read the whole 35 pages of the GFA, but no. Why would he do that?

To be fair to Raaaaaaaab, the big print version (incorporating easy to understand cartoons of Seamus Greenhat and Johnny ‘Mad Dog’ Orangehat and their many potential disagreements) probably runs to nearly 80 pages. With a little yellow duck to spot on every one.

Also, why bother understanding something when you’re just going to proceed by pretending it doesn’t exist?

Who would you believe – Road Haulage Association and associated trade bodies or a gov spox?

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-54194339

From that:

To help businesses prepare, we have launched a major communications campaign

Stop campaigning, start governing! They created this job for themselves, yet can’t be arsed to get on with it, they just keep telling us that it’s happening, ready or not. Thanks for nothing.

From that Beeb article that Frank linked to:

In Kent a coronavirus testing centre has been closed to make way for a lorry park to accommodate post-Brexit customs checks.

Pretty clear where the priorities lie for this bunch of crooks.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-54210658

Dammit! I love this woman.

Why did they mention her husband?