Current UK Government policy is not to deliver Brexit

What's the likelihood of British people being presented with a sickly-sweet Brexit fudge?

© Brexit Facts4EU.Org 2020

Are we heading for a “soft, sweet, crumbly substance made from a sugar and dairy mix”?

If readers are expecting the United Kingdom to become a free, independent and sovereign country at the end of this year they are going to be sorely disappointed.

Current UK Government policy is not to deliver this.

It almost does not matter what happens in the off-on, on-off trade talks between the UK and the EU - a possible trade deal is only half the story. And a trade deal with the EU is not Brexit, it is what the words imply: a trading arrangement. On this we expect a grand fudge - “a soft, sweet, crumbly substance” - in the coming weeks, but in some ways this hardly matters.

Any absence of a trade deal is, however, highly relevant to extricating the UK from its current BRINO Brexit, as we shall explain.

Brexit isn’t trade. Brexit means a fully free, independent and sovereign country

So why is it that the British people do not know they will be an EU colony on 31 December 2020?

The fact that the majority of the British public are unaware of what the legal status of their own country will be after 31 December – when we are supposed to be finally free of the EU’s shackles – is down to many factors. Here are three key ones.

1. Boris and politics

Firstly, Boris Johnson was facing a Remainer-dominated Parliament when he negotiated a revision to the Withdrawal Agreement with the EU. This had to be done at speed because of a personal promise he made to deliver Brexit by 31 October 2019 “or die in a ditch”. It was, in effect, a rush job that he hoped to get through Parliament. He failed, so he went to the country in December and secured a massive majority.

The problem he then faced was that just because he had a more balanced Parliament this did not mean that he could call out the Withdrawal Agreement as a dog’s dinner, because he himself had advocated it so strongly. And so he signed it in January.

2. The media and institutions

The three main broadcast channels – the BBC, Sky News, and ITN are all pro-Remain. The majority of the print media are all pro-Remain. The Express, parts of the Sun, and parts of the Telegraph are the exceptions. The country's main institutions are pro-Remain, up to and including the Church of England (for heaven’s sake).

The British public has therefore been subject to a bombardment of Establishment propaganda which started before the EU Referendum and has continued ever since. The Establishment – insofar as it finally had to accept that Brexit was happening, wanted the closest alignment possible with Brussels. This is what the Withdrawal Agreement and Political Declaration delivers, so they were therefore not about to call it out for what it is.

3. COVID

It is a simple fact that our news has been dominated by the COVID crisis from just four weeks after the UK ostensibly left the EU on 31 January. Dominated is perhaps the wrong word. The news has been saturated in Coronavirus.

There were periods when Brexit – the most significant change to the United Kingdom’s constitutional status in almost two generations – barely got a look in. This is a shocking abrogation by the broadcast media over the past eight months, who no longer seem able to report on more than one topic.

Here is why the trade agreement is relevant to a true Brexit

The Withdrawal Agreement and Political Declaration, which define the nature of Brexit as we have explained, were predicated on the EU acting in good faith in the prompt negotiation of a trade deal with the UK.

The EU has patently failed to use its best endeavours in fulfilling this obligation and is therefore in material breach of the Agreement. This gives the right to the UK Government to rescind the Agreement and it must do so before 31 December 2020.

We have set out all the legal arguments in previous articles, many of them prepared with the advice of top legal experts. In our next article we will summarise all of these for readers, MPs, and for the Government.

The Government ignores the WA and PD and resumes trade talks immediately with the EU

Instead of rescinding the Withdrawal Agreement and Political Declaration, the Government announced yesterday that intensive talks are to resume immediately, seven day-a-week.

We have agreed that a basis for negotiations with the EU & @michelbarnier has been re-established. Intensive talks will happen every day & begin tomorrow afternoon, 22 October, in London.

Here is the UK statement & link to the agreed working methodology.https://t.co/2MLr8KrPfv

— David Frost (@DavidGHFrost) October 21, 2020

In a statement released yesterday afternoon, the Government said:

“We have studied carefully the statement by Michel Barnier to the European Parliament this morning. As the EU’s Chief Negotiator his words are authoritative.

“The Prime Minister and Michael Gove have both made clear in recent days that a fundamental change in approach was needed from the EU from that shown in recent weeks. They made clear that the EU had to be serious about talking intensively, on all issues, and bringing the negotiation to a conclusion. They were also clear that the EU had to accept once again that it was dealing with an independent and sovereign country and that any agreement would need to be consistent with that status.

“We welcome the fact that Mr Barnier acknowledged both points this morning, and additionally that movement would be needed from both sides in the talks if agreement was to be reached.”

We wonder if the Government read our analysis yesterday of the speech given before Monsieur Barnier’s, by EU Council President Charles Michel at the EU Parliament in the morning? President Michel’s speech contradicts that of Monsieur Barnier and gives no cause for optimism that the EU will move far from its red lines, which it most definitely needs to do.

The President of the EU Council of the 27 leaders of the EU most certainly outranks Monsieur Barnier, so we find the UK Government’s assertion that “As the EU’s Chief Negotiator his words are authoritative” to be rather strange. We assume these words were added because the Government had also read the speech by the EU Council President, and were aware of the contradictions.

If Boris Johnson wants to be remembered for delivering Brexit, he must complete the job now

• There must be no fudged Brexit trade deal compromising the UK’s sovereignty and independence
• The Prime Minister must announce that in the light of the EU’s serious and continuing breaches, the WA is rescinded
• A full-on information campaign for public and world opinion must be launched
• The Government must move all Brexit resources to preparing for a no deal Brexit on 31 December 2020
• Side deals on many related Brexit ‘continuity’ matters, already agreed with the EU, should now be signed

It is the Withdrawal Agreement and Political Declaration which prevent the achievement of a fully free, independent, and sovereign United Kingdom. These must now be voided by the Government so that the UK can move on to the Brexit opportunities ahead of us all.

[ Sources: The Withdrawal Agreement and Political Declaration ] Politicians and journalists can contact us for details, as ever.

Brexit Facts4EU.Org, Thur 22 Oct 2020

Click here to go to our news headlines

Please scroll down to COMMENT on the above article.
And don't forget to actually post your message after you have previewed it!

Any credit card user

Quick One-off

From £5 - £1,000

Monthly

From £3 per month