Comments by "Nigel Johnson" (@nigeljohnson9820) on "Brexit: UK 'miscalculating' over unilateral action to override treaty, says Ireland's Coveney" video.

The protocol is less important than protecting the GFA. The EU is more concern with protecting the EU.
3
@janbruin4662 as always you are happy to ignore the views of the loyalists in Ireland. For peace to be sustained, both parties need to agree. Your comp,aunts about Boris Johnson seem misplaced, given it was his duplicity that allowed the protocol to be signed. Without it, the UK would have left the EU without an agreement, and there would be a land border. The proposed changes seem very reasonable, as goods that are intended for NI are not subject to border checking, only those for export over the border into the republic are subject to customs checks. The arrangement still preserves a border free land crossing, it just means the majority of goods from the UK will not be subject to checks.
3
Us support for the protocol will be at the expensive of the GFA.
2
@stepheng3334 it is obvious that the protocol is not acceptable to the loyalists, thus endangering the peace, or have you forgotten that both sides were shooting and bombing each other. So the protocol as defined by the EU is endangering the GFA.
2
@eggandscorpion brexit is the right of the UK, it cannot be used to trap the UK in the EU, or to impose EU custom rules on the UK.
2
@stepheng3334 brexit is no business of the Irish republic. Though it is interesting that there are factions in the republic who are now calling for an Irish exist from the EU, recognising that Ireland is effectively ruled from Brussels.
2
@eggandscorpion as I said I have no objections to Irish reunification, the rest of the UK will benefit. It is typical that you belittle brexit, will seeking Irish reunification in the deluded belief of Irish sovereignty, when in fact Ireland will be ruled by eurocrats in Brussels. This is just an example of egotistical Irish nationalism. As I have repeatedly stated, the UK had the right to vote to leave the EU. It is not a conspire theory that some in British politics where attempting to make joining the EU irreversible. They is a declassified foreign office document that proves this plot. Ref FCO 30/1048 As for Irish reunification proceeding as you believe, is a fantasy. For a start, it will be pushed into the distant future by the republic and the EU, who both recognise the liability it represents. Any attempt to force it to happen, will most likely trigger a civil war in Ireland, after all the origin of this conflict dates back to 1169, so the next 10 years is just a drop in the ocean of time.
2
@paologat what is it that you find so difficult to understand. The UK voted to leave the EU, as was its right. It was the most democratic vote the UK ever carried out. Everyone citizen had a single vote on a single issue referendum, with every vote counting equally. Why do you think anyone else should have had a say on the matter? A harder brexit would not have been on the interests of the EU. As it is the EU is using NI as a way of retaining some control over the UK, yet another reason why MI will find it hard to get a referendum on reunification. The EU has no right to control trade between parts of the UK.
2
@eggandscorpion typical nationalist, distorting the argument to suit their agenda. While NI is part of the UK, the views of the loyalists are important. Once NI becomes part of the republic, their views will be important to both the government of the republic and the EU, as they will be disenfranchised with a grievance against the republic and the EU, While NI is part of the UK, the loyalists have every right to be concerned about NI being separated from the rest of the UK by a customs border controlled by the EU. Note, the EU, not the republic of Ireland. The proposed UK solution seems to address this concern, by distinguishing between goods destined to cross the border between North and South and goods that remain in NI. It is a nonsense to ignore that fact that there is a border between the UK and the EU. As NI is in the UK, there is a border in Ireland, like it or not.
2
@eggandscorpion it is surprising that other EU members have not objected to NI receiving membership perks without paying the membership fee. Sooner or later the nationalists will realise that this preferential relationship is yet another reason why NI will not vote for reunification. If your argument is correct, maybe Boris Johnson is encouraging a referendum vote, perhaps he shares the view that the UK is better off without the liability of NI. If so, it is certainly not a view he is free to express. If the loyalist extremists decide to return to violence, it would be better if their aggression was directed towards the republic and the EU, not to the UK for rejecting them.
2
@paologat I campaigned to reject May's deal along with the protocol. Both were obviously a trap. The EU has the right to deal with its own internal market without a border, and that is what it will do. I predicted as much over six years ago. The EU fains concern for the GFA, but the only things that matter to the EU is protecting its border and making sure that brexit appears to fail. It said as much at the time. The UK proposal seems to meets the border protection requirements of both sides, unfortunately for the eu, it does not meet the additional requirement of ensuring that brexit appears to fail. The EU should be careful what it wishes for, as the UK might just call its bluff and call for a reunification referendum. It could justify this on the basis of the latest election results in NI. It seems rather perverse that a referendum on reunification should only be called if their is a good chance of it being in favour of reunification. Like most such EU votes, there is no expectation that such a decision would be subject to a later referendum that might reverse the result of the first. In other words its a one way decision. It will be interesting to see just how the EU is going to enforce its border controls against the will of a militant part of the NI population, any more than imposing a land border in NI.
2
@kevonslims7269 the EU were setting conditions for the UK to exit the EU. The conditions were being engineered to make it impossible for the UK to leave. This violated the principle that any member state had the right to leave the EU. So I really don't care if Boris lied or played fast and lose with the protocol. It allowed the UK to leave the EU, which was its right in the first place. Effectively the EU was using the GFA as a trap to keep the UK inside the EU or force it to remain in the EU customs union, which would have turned the UK into a vassal state of the EU. Effectively the choice was to remain a full member with voting rights, or remain a member, but without voting rights. Neither amounted to leaving the EU, which was the mandate given to the government by the referendum. So Boris Johnson cheated the blackmailer. Good for him. If any one is at fault, it is Tony Blair, for either setting the GFA trap, or falling into it. Given he was a europhile, the former seem more likely.
2
@kevonslims7269 does NI pay the EU membership fee? Is NI part of the UK, and is financed by it? The EU recognised the integrity and soverienty of the UK as a whole, which is inconsistent with the protocol, making it invalid. It is a flawed document.
2
@eggandscorpion no, the blackmail was very real. The eu insisted that to met the requirements of the GFA, the UK either remained in the EU, negating the brexit result, or was forced to be part of the EU customs union making it a vassal state of the EU.. Leaving the EU was not an option. The protocol was supposed to keep NI in the customs union, but it is inconsistent with respecting the integrity of the UK as a whole, as a third party soverign state. It was a flawed document, that tried to hide the inconsistency. NI IS NOT IN THE EU, ITS IN THE EU CUSTOMS UNION, but that does not respect the integrity of the UK as a soverign state, which is what the DUP object too. Only the new uk proposal manages to square the circle. Anything else puts the GFA at risk, as the loyalist won't honour it.
2
@Plato the UK also has a right to protect its border. The protocol is inconsistent with doing this.
2
@kevonslims7269 NI is not part of the EU, it has been forced into its customs union. An arrangement the UK has the right to end.
2
@eggandscorpion amazing how the Irish have made themselves the victims for so long. Where would you be without Westminster to blame.
2
@Plato no, a state standing up for its rights.
2
@kevonslims7269 he seems to be doing a good job of attempting to honour the commitments he gave the DUP, making sure goods from the UK intended for NI are not subject to checks.
2
@jounik so any change to the protocol which is to do with changing the border checks between the rest of the UK and NI is nothing to do with the EU.
1
@jounik we will have to see if the continued use of the protocol leads to a return to violence. Factions of the loyalist paramilitaries have already threatened the lives of EU custom inspection teams, and blowing up port custom posts. It would be ironic if the protocol, puts UK troops back on the streets of NI to keep the peace, not sure if the Americans would like that, any more than the nationalists. It is what happens of you ignore the views of a section of the population, sooner or later they take matters into their own hands.
1
@jounik interesting that you excuse nationalist violence, which is why there is not a land border. But you are happy to ignore the threat of loyalist violence because there is a sea border dividing the UK. The protocol is not to protect the GFA, it is to protect an inflexible EU border. The protocol as implemented is likely to end the GFA, there are signs posted by the loyalists that state this. While NI is part of the UK, it has the right to free trade with the rest of the UK. The UK government proposed change is a workable solution to this problem. If the EU refuses to approve it, the UK will likely implement it anyway. I suspect you are taking the chance that the loyalist extremeists are not as extreme as those of the nationalists. I think you are wrong, as it really does not take a great number to trigger a return to violence. I would remind you that the lack of land border is largely the result of the or a threats to blow up the border posts.
1
@jounik you really don't know your own history very well, I suggest that you look up the history of political violence in Ireland. You will seem there have been multiple examples of violence, including bombings, since the GFA was signed. The violence has not gone away it is just at a lower level. I would post the link to the source, but it will only get deleted by YouTube, In is interesting that the IRA exploded a bomb in protest to the signing of the GFA.
1
@SeeYouNextTues its not concerned, it will just do it.
1
@SeeYouNextTues glad we got your permission.
1
@htlein simple goods destined for NI would not be subject to regular check. Only goods that cross the border into the republic are subject to regular checks, but the checks are done at the NI ports. This meets the concerns of the loyalists.
1
@eggandscorpion I really do not care about the GFA, I would be happy to see Ireland reunited. It would give the rest of the UK a political and economic windfall, and move al, the liabilities onto the republic and the EU. If the UK must retain an interest in NI, then it must at least be an equal part of the UK. The UK repeatedly voted to leave the EU. A completely separate matter to the GFA. The GFA was always flawed, one might suspect that it was intended to bind the UK to the EU, by the europhile faction in British politics at the time. Certainly there is evidence that many agreement with the EU were engineered to make leaving as difficult as possible.
1
@paologat no you have just demonstrated typical nationalist bigotry and egotism. Again you fail to recognise that the UK had the democratic RIGHT to leave the EU, and the RoI has no say in the matter. The RoI was so important to the EU, that the EU considered cutting it off from membership over covid vaccine import controls. You really have an over inflated opinion of the importance of the RoI.
1
@eggandscorpion it seems as if Boris Johnson's proposed solution is an attempt to keep his promise to the DUP, in that goods intended for NI would not require checks, only goods that cross into the republic would be checked at the sea border. That satisfies the requirement for NO land border in NI. I am not wishing violence on anyone, I am just predicting the logical outcome of continuing with the protocol on its current form. . Any grudge held since 1169 is not going to be eliminated so easily. This view is supported by tv documentaries and news reports of the views of extremists on both sides. I have made my position very clear, the ideal is for the rest of the UK to extricate itself from Ireland at the earliest possible date, provided it can be done without attracting the aggression of the loyalists, pet that be directed where it belongs, at the republic and the eu. I am happy for it to become an EU problem to solve. They will do what they usually do, and throw money at it. They may even be able to buy off the loyalists.
1
@eggandscorpion he should not have signed the protocol, but the eu was blackmailing the UK at the time, so I don't care if he lied to a blackmailer. The EU was using its supporters in the house of lords in an attempt to reverse the brexit vote and undermine UK democracy. So again I don't care if he lied to the EU. The blackmailer did not get what they thought they had. More to the point, the loyalists either get what they were promised or the GFA is dead.
1
@paologat I think you will find it is the eu that is using NI as a pawn. It is using it as an anchor to hold the UK in the EU. It's proposed solution is to effectively extend the EU custom union to encompass the whole of the UK. Effectively introducing May's deal by the back door. Admittedly, it want to do it in a piecemeal fashion. The UK will not be governed by EU laws and directives that parliament has no control over.
1
@htlein the UK government was blackmailed into signing the protocol as the only way to escape from the EU.
1
@fuzzyspackage by trapping NI in the EU customs union, the people of NI are governed by rules, set in Brussels, over which they have no say. The people of NI can however end the protocol agreement.
1
@eggandscorpion the definition of a diplomat is someone employed to lie for their country. I see no problem in Boris Johnson doing his job in the interests of the UK. We have had far too many high ranking politicians who appeared to by working in the interests of the EU and against those of the UK. Certainly the house of lords is full of those with a vested interest in working for the EU, some have EU pensions that depend upon it.
1
@eggandscorpion not really, the eu is as much of a bully as Russia, it just hasn't got the military teeth yet.
1
@eggandscorpion I don't need convincing, I am happy to have a PM who is working for the UK, and not the interests of everyone else. The UK has had a history of treating international politics like a game of cricket, expecting everyone else to play by the rules. Well they do that very infrequently, and think it a joke that the UK is sufficiently naive to do so. It wears a bit thin to hear our politicians talking about our friends in Europe, with friends like that who needs enemies. The EU became a hostile power the minute the brexit referendum result was announced. It was Theresa May who was most guilty of not recognising the Uk's new status, spending much of her time playing advocate for the eu side of the argument and conceding her position before even being asked. She did not even follow the common legal advice given to motorists, that of admiring nothing.
1
@eggandscorpion still playing the victim. I am not politically illiterate, but you are politically very naive. You have a very narrow definition of what counts as hostility. As the world is demonstrating to the Russians, there is such a think as economic hostility, but more broadly it is the intent to do another country harm. I think you will find most European countries have a history of violent colonialism, and map redrawing. Some, such as the French are still doing it. I really do not care if you find my comments offensive, they are simply stating the fact. The EU became a hostile power as soon as the UK announced it was leaving. It is the nature of the EU protection racket. A review of the comments made by the leaders of the member states during that period will confirm my conclusions. The French were certainly talking about punishing the UK for having the temerity to leave. The divorce payment was a nonsense, given the UK had always been a major net contributory to the EU budget. The fact that the EU wanted to retain access to UK coastal waters, after brexit, confirmed the view, that the EU regards what is ours is theirs, and what is theirs is theirs.
1
@RoryMonaghan not delusional, accurate. I suggest you review the comments of Macron at the time. He was not the only one calling for the UK to be punished for leaving. That is simp,y a fact, and you are delusional if you deny it.
1
@timlinator I am all in favour of NI joining the South. Provided the UK is not expected to pay for it. I think it should save the rest of the UK about £13 billion a year, and transfer the political problems of NI to the EU. The loyalists are now in the minority, but I doubt that will reduce the trouble they can cause, after all it did not take many republicans to bomb and murder across NI. The eu still has not finished with Ireland, it will continue to treat it carefully, while it has some impact on the rest of the UK, but sooner or later Ireland will learn they have exchanged one colonial master for another. Ireland is already ruled by directives from Brussels. The Irish government is really not much more than a local council, and when the eu is less preoccupied with more pressing international matters, the march of the EU super state will continue, assuming it is not disrupted by a nuclear war with Russia.
1