The future of the EU and the UK, post-Brexit

Boris Johnson adviser quits over race and eugenics controversy
Andrew Sabisky says he is stepping down as ‘contractor’ to No 10 after fierce criticism across political spectrum

 

Hitler was a globalist, if ever there was one. He was obsessed with global domination, with him in charge.

Clearly, that is not what is wanted and this guy - whoever he was - is gone.

If only the Labour party was as diligent about clearing out the anti-Semites from its ranks.

 

It appears that Boris Johnson is holding the line as the trade negotiations between the EU and the UK get underway in earnest:

Downing Street rejects EU's 'onerous' opening trade offer

No 10 has accused the EU of trying to give the UK a worse trade deal than those offered to the US, Canada and Japan, as the two sides clashed ahead of crucial talks scheduled to take just 40 days.

With the opening round of talks due to start on Monday, Downing Street publicly rejected the EU’s opening offer for a trade deal and said it did not recognise the need for a “level playing field” for competition. It said Brussels was trying to impose “onerous commitments” that would undermine the UK’s legal autonomy and right to set its own regulations.

“The EU has respected the autonomy of other major economies around the world such as Canada and Japan when signing trade deals with them. We just want the same,” a No 10 spokesman said.

“We agree the UK’s trade with the EU is significant. The US’s [trade] is on the same scale – yet that did not stop the EU being willing to offer the US zero tariffs without the kind of level playing field commitments or the legal oversight they have put in today’s mandate.”​

The EU has publicly insisted that the UK commit to re-subjecting itself to the EU's laws and regulations in order to get a trade deal with the EU. PM Johnson just told them no, in no uncertain terms. It pretty clearly appears that this is not going to happen.

As the spokesperson for the UK government stated, the EU has offered low tariff trade agreements to a number of countries without offering this sort of subjugation. If they want to have a trade arrangement with the UK, they can reasonably expect that to be negotiated on terms similar to what they have extended to other countries, including the US (although negotiations have taken place, there is no finalized trade agreement in effect between the US and the EU).

Well done, Boris. Carry on.

 

As if the humiliation of the UK divorcing the EU was not already enough to bring EU leaders full-on to the snapping point, the leaders of Africa are also not in the mood to be dictated to or dominated by the EU either.

African Union to EU: We’ve got our own strategy, thanks

ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia — The African Union had a clear message for Brussels: We appreciate your interest, but we can solve our own problems, thanks.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen arrived in the Ethiopian capital Thursday with a large delegation from Brussels, including 20 commissioners, hoping to forge a new strategic partnership with the 55-country African Union. More concretely, they wanted to use their meetings with their AU counterparts to take a crucial step forward in drafting a new Africa strategy that Brussels is hastily putting together to debut next week.

“Certainly, we have some differences,” Faki told reporters at a press conference alongside von der Leyen. “International criminal justice, sexual orientation and identity, death penalty, centrality of the African Union in certain crises."

“These differences are normal, given our cultural, sociological and even spiritual diversity. Only the recognition and acceptance of these differences, the language of openness, will allow us to remove the obstacles that may hinder our cooperation,” he added.

The remarks irked senior EU officials in Addis Ababa who feel there is a lack of recognition that without EU funding, the AU project would simply collapse. In 2019, the EU allocated €320 million to AU projects, roughly half of the body’s total budget.​

Humiliations galore! Surely the Africans will be open to some further colonial overtures by the EU, in exchange for the proper payoffs. This will be just what the doctor ordered, to ease the anxieties of those transcendentally arrogant control freaks who run the EU. Right?

Well, no. The Africans can apparently see for themselves what a shambles the EU leaders are making of things and they are coming to realize, if anyone is going to *******s up the African continent, then surely African leaders are up to that task themselves. They do not need the EU sticking their beaks in, imposing themselves and telling the people of Africa how to run their affairs.

And good for the African leaders to come to this decision. Surely they have been colonized enough. The Europeans, the US, the Russians, the Chinese.... The have a billion people on that continent, surely they can produce the leaders that they need to manage these issues locally.

In fact, maybe some of the problems they have been having are a result of too many cooks in the kitchen, as it were. As noted in the article above, African leaders increasingly appear to think so.

 

UK International Trade Secretary Liz Truss today made the first speech by a British minister since the UK became a member in its own right on February 1, 2020. In her speech, she announced that 'Britain is back' and that the UK would be a leader in promoting trade reform and increased openness in international trade.

‘We're back!’ Brexit Britain to lead the world - Truss delivers barnstorming speech at WTO

Liz Truss hit out at “industrial subsidies, state-owned enterprises and forced technology transfer” as she made the first speech by a British minister at the WTO since the UK became a member in its own right.

She told the Organization’s General Council meeting of 164 Ambassadors from around the world that it is critical for nations to work together to reform the WTO so that it is modernised and forward looking.

Announcing that “Britain is back”, Liz Truss used the speech to position the UK as a world leader in setting standards in areas such as services and digital, and ensuring the WTO takes advantage of the digital revolution powering the global economy.

The Trade Secretary said:

The UK will, like every other sovereign country, assert its ability to set its own laws and regulations in line with our WTO commitments, reflecting our own circumstances and ideas, while working tirelessly alongside other WTO Members to drive reform.

We will make the case to update the WTO rulebook to tackle underlying trade tensions such as industrial subsidies, state-owned enterprises and forced technology transfer.​

Obviously, this was not possible before the UK regained its sovereignty last month. Trade Minister Truss indicated that the UK is in agreement that the WTO is in need of reform and will support efforts to see that reform carried out.

 

The UK government has notified the EU that it will be deploying British Navy ships to protect UK waters from EU based fishing vessels. Clearly, these guys are not playing around.

UK warns it will send in NAVY to stop EU boats entering British waters

The Environment Secretary was asked about enforcement of the fisheries policy, and said: “We have significantly increased our enforcement capability.”

“The Royal Navy introduced three new offshore vessels but a decision was taken not to decommission the old ones so that there was additional capacity there. We’ve also taken on some extra capacity from the private sector to give us extra vessels, we’ve launched a new joint maritime control centre together with both Border Force and Coastguard so that we can make better coordinated use of the various assets that we have.

"The Home Office have four cutter vessels that are suitable for some fisheries patrol work and we have trained some of their staff to become warranted fisheries officers and taken out an aerial surveillance contract as well. We have trained a significant number - 50 new fisheries protection officers - to support us in this work and we’ve also taken out an aerial surveillance contract as well so we have increased it substantially. We think that is sufficient.”

Mr Eustice also insisted there is no chance of the UK using the fishing industry as a “bargaining chip” in post-Brexit trade talks.​

So demands by the EU that the UK subordinate its territory, its fishing waters, its laws, regulations, and standards to the EU are being rejected in no uncertain terms. This time with military warships at the point of the spear.

Hopefully the leaders of the EU will snap to reality about all this sooner rather than later. The clock is ticking after all.

 

Boris Johnson has indicate that the coronavirus will not be an excuse for extending the transition period. Steady on. Of course the usual suspects are grasping at anything. But with an 80 vote majority in Parliament - actually an 87 vote working majority, with Sinn Fein not taking their seats - there is nothing they can do to slow this process down any more.

Boris say the UK will not extend Brexit deadline due to coronavirus

Boris Johnson has dismissed the proposition of the Brexit transition period being extended in the wake of the coronavirus outbreak across the world.

The Prime Minister’s spokesman said: "The talks are progressing exactly as planned.
“Both sides are very aware of the timetable that they are working to."​