Read on Twitter
1/ On the issue of the damaging NI Protocol, the Irish nationalists have now changed tack, presumably after PR advice, and are now engaging in theatre to make them appear moderate, and the unionists look like they are unjustifiably unreasonable.
2/ It's clear the Protocol is damaging the NI economy and NI consumers. As protest against it has increased and unionists have found their voice, the nationalists who demanded and support the Protocol have responded with a mix of arrogant platitudes and outright hostility.
3/ Their "line to take" is that Brexit caused the Protocol (it didn't) and that unionists should "own it" (although nationalists created it). It is a gross distortion, because Brexit was supposed to apply to the whole UK, meaning there would be no barriers between GB-NI.
4/ Yet barriers are exactly what have been erected. Why? Was it the British govt who said we should have them? Boris Johnson, before his reverse ferret, said they would happen over his "dead body". So who wanted barriers and why? It was the EU, the Irish and the NI nationalists.
5/ The reason for the Protocol was nationalist refusal to accept customs checks on the island of Ireland. It wasn't Brexit. It wasn't unionists. It was nationalists, pretending there wasn't a recognised, international, administrative, jurisdictional border between Ireland and NI.
6/ If there is an international border for political administration, legal system, currency, taxation, representation and more besides, why would customs checks, near the border, on a small percentage of goods be an issue? Isn't this just a remainer effort to undermine Brexit?
7/ Perhaps it is. But it was also part of the EU's plan to make Brexit so difficult that the UK might think again and cancel its decision to leave. Which is perhaps why Enda Kenny's fine effort with the UK to make the border work was scrapped by Leo Varadkar when he took office.
8/ Against this backdrop, the EU commissioned its own report into the workings of the border, and found that a workable and appropriate non-hard border solution could be delivered on the Irish border, which protected the single market and respected the UK's territorial integrity.
9/ What did the EU do? Rejected it without any consideration. Why? Because Ireland was to be used as a stick to batter the UK into submission. Ireland was happy with that. So too were Sinn Fein, SDLP and Alliance, who want to leave the UK and have a united Ireland.
10/ So the Protocol was born, supposedly to protect the EU's single market. But it put up a hard border within the UK that now prevents a number of retail goods from being moved from GB to NI without time consuming checks and costly administration.
11/ NI consumers have been hit hard. Online retailers increasingly refuse to ship goods to NI buyers because of the cost and administrative overhead. This isn't about protecting the EU single market. Goods with a final destination of NI have no business being subject to EU rules.
12/ Now we see the nationalists with their current PR campaign saying they will work with unionists on "derogations", "flexibilities" and "practical solutions". All of which keep the Irish Sea border in place. It's a skilled piece of gaslighting. Flexibility is one-way it seems.
13/ If the nationalists were genuine about removing the hardships their Protocol has inflicted on NI consumers, everything would be open for discussion, including a non-hard border with Ireland. But no. Absolutely not.
14/ Instead we have the likes of Stephen Farry declaring the removal of the Protocol is a "dead end", "not a realistic option". This is a demonstration of bad faith. A desire to continue undermining Brexit in the hopes of increasing support for a united Ireland.
15/ If they were serious about fixing the problem, they would look at how the EU's required customs checks to stop goods entering its market via Ireland can be done quietly and smoothly near the border, using the recommendations of the EU's own report into how it can be done.
16/ The nationalists keep saying that the DUP put the Protocol in place and it's the fault of Brexit. If so, why would they have any complaint with the DUP saying the Protocol should go? In truth, it's because the Protocol was Sinn Fein, SDLP and Alliances Brexit-bashing baby.
17/ Relying as they do, on unspecified threats of terrorism if any form of customs checks take place on the island of Ireland, shows their bad faith. Garda already pull over and check people from NI who have crossed the border. Those checks don't result in terrorism. No uproar.
18/ So why should checks on a small percentage of goods result in terrorism. It's time to stop the lies and the bad faith. It's time to stop harming NI consumers and discuss how customs checks can take place near the Irish border, with low to no impact on ordinary people.
19/ If the nationalists refuse to do so, then it is clear where the problem is. The overblown threat of terrorism, in response to EU officials checking if some electricals or ingredients crossing south meet their standards, should be rejected out of hand.
20/ Brexit is done. There's no more leverage to be had. The EU has shown Ireland doesn't matter to them with the Art16 omnishambles last week. It's time to put on big boy pants, do the checks on the Irish border and scrap the Protocol so GB-NI goods can move without interference.
