Tag Archives: Boris Johnson

Britain, European Union, Government, Ireland, Politics

Johnson says No 10 hasn’t even tried to solve Irish issue

BREXIT: IRISH BORDER

BORIS JOHNSON has ignited a fresh Brexit row after claiming Theresa May has “not even tried” to solve the Irish border problem.

The former Foreign Secretary said elements in the Government had “ingeniously manipulated” the issue to keep Britain locked closely to the EU and “stop a proper Brexit”.

But supporters of the prime minister said there were “no new ideas” in Mr Johnson’s latest intervention.

Earlier this week, Mr Johnson wrote in his Daily Telegraph column that the Irish border problem was “fixable”, adding: “The scandal is not that we have failed, but that we have not even tried.”

In a scathing attack on Mrs May’s Chequers plan, he branded it a “fix” that will lead to victory for the EU and said that in the negotiations the UK was “lying flat on the canvas”.

He added the Irish government had initially offered pragmatic solutions to the issue, only to withdraw them when the British Government showed no interest. Those in favour of the Chequers plan say that a simple trade deal could not resolve the problems around the Irish border.

A source close to No. 10, said: “The basic premise of the Brexiteers is that there is a free trade deal on the table we can just pick up.

“There is, but it is a Great Britain only deal – we would be walking off the pitch in Northern Ireland. It would mean Northern Ireland staying in the customs union, a customs border down the Irish Sea and a step towards the break-up of the UK. It is not acceptable.”

Brexiteers argue that a Canada-style free trade deal is achievable and that with the right pressure, the EU would accept a technological solution on the Irish border.

Responding to the row, the source insists the country needs “serious leadership with a serious plan” which the prime minister is providing.

The spokesperson added: “The Government’s Brexit White Paper was ‘the only credible and negotiable plan which has been put forward’.”

Boris Johnson resigned from the Government following the Chequers agreement.

ANALYSIS

The 310-mile border between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland has been one of the most intractable issues in the Brexit negotiations. There are more than 300 crossing points across which goods and people can move freely. But one of the crunch and unresolved issues is what will happen after Brexit, when Northern Ireland – along with the rest of the UK – leaves the EU.

Relatively, there is little trade that exchanges between the north and south of Ireland. Brexiteers point out that trade between Northern Ireland and the Republic makes up 5 per cent of the province’s economy. The figure the other way is just 1.6 per cent.

However, Northern Ireland and the Republic’s trading relationship with Great Britain is much more significant. Trade with Great Britain is some 21 per cent of Northern Irish GDP, and around 12 per cent of all Irish exports go to the UK mainland.

In short, the problem to resolve is how to preserve an open border with different customs regimes and regulations for goods either side of the line. All sides appear to agree there must be no “hard” border – meaning physical barriers and border guards. These were dismantled as part of the peace process and secured by the 1998 Good Friday Agreement. Northern Ireland’s chief constable has said that any “significant physical infrastructure” would become a target for dissident Republicans.

 

THE EU’s chief negotiator Michel Barnier says Northern Ireland must stay in the customs union and single market to preserve the open border with the Republic and remove the need for any customs or regulatory checks. The EU has also said that there should be a customs and regulatory border at sea ports on either side of the Irish Sea.

Theresa May finds such a “sea border” unacceptable and this would be a symbolic sign of division between Great Britain and Northern Ireland. The prime minister has also been adamant this would be a threat to the “constitutional integrity” of the UK and says, “no UK prime minister could ever agree to it”. Northern Ireland would become – to a large extent – an annexe of the EU, following EU rules. To Northern Ireland’s Democratic Unionist Party – on which Mrs May relies for her Commons majority – this is a non-starter.

Mrs May’s answer to the impasse is Chequers. This proposes to keep the whole of the UK in the single market for goods, which deals directly with the problem of different regulatory standards. On customs, she proposes a “facilitated customs arrangement”, with a common customs border. Importers would pay different tariffs demanding on where goods were destined, and that the UK would collect tariffs for the EU. In theory, this would allow the UK to negotiate trade deals with third countries and by cutting tariffs.

 

BORIS JOHNSON insists that the Northern Ireland issue has been “ingeniously manipulated” both by Brussels and No 10 “so as to keep Britain effectively in the customs union and single market”. The Irish border problem is “flexible”, he argues.

Mr Johnson also believes there is a technological solution and that no hard border is necessary. Checks would take place in warehouses or away from the border. There are only 50 large companies that trade across the border, and small traders would be exempted entirely. Other Brexiteers point to highly automated ports such as Felixstowe as providing the likely solutions. The former Foreign Secretary said the Irish government began working on these answers, but the UK Government was “not really interested”.

 

SOME in Ireland have argued a technological solution is possible, including former Irish prime ministers Bertie Ahern and Enda Kenny. The tone, though, has changed under Leo Varadkar, who took office in June last year. Since then the Irish have been in lock step with Mr Barnie, and the border has become the central issue of the Brexit talks.

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Britain, Russia

Johnson: World Cup like Hitler’s Olympics

BRITAIN

BORIS JOHNSON, the British Foreign Secretary, has sparked fury in the Kremlin by comparing the Russian World Cup to be held this year with Adolf Hitler’s 1936 Olympics in Berlin.

Mr Johnson said the prospect of Vladimir Putin “glorying” in the tournament was nauseating.

Giving evidence to MPs on the Commons’ foreign affairs committee, he said he agreed with Labour MP Ian Austin, who likened the World Cup to Hitler’s use of the 1936 Olympics as a Nazi propaganda vehicle.

Mr Johnson said: “The comparison with 1936 is certainly right. It’s an emetic prospect to think of Putin glorying in this sporting event.”

But the Kremlin said the foreign secretary’s comments were “unacceptable” and “unworthy of a top European diplomat”.

Mr Johnson reiterated his concerns again that he was “deeply concerned” about how travelling England football fans would be treated in Russia.

He added that the Foreign Office was “very, very closely” monitoring the situation for supporters looking to attend the tournament, which begins in June.

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Britain, European Union, Government, Russia, Society

Britain: Russia’s poison stockpile

SALISBURY ATTACK

BORIS JOHNSON has said that Russia has been “creating and stockpiling” the deadly nerve agent used in the Salisbury spy attack for a decade. This claim and accusation was immediately denounced as “drivel” by Vladimir Putin.

The Foreign Secretary said scientists had developed Novichok in breach of international chemical weapons conventions and researched how to use them to assassinate its enemies.

Mr Johnson’s blunt comments has heightened the war of words with Moscow over the poisoning of former Russian double agent Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia.

Putin dismissed Johnson’s claims as “nonsense”, but said Moscow was willing to cooperate on the probe.

He said he found out about the attack from the media, adding: “The first thing that entered my head was that if it had been a military-grade nerve agent, the people would have died on the spot.

“Russia does not have such [nerve] agents. We destroyed all our chemical weapons under the supervision of international organisations, and we did it first, unlike some of our partners who promised to do it, but unfortunately did not keep their promises.

“We are ready to cooperate. We are ready to take part in the necessary investigations, but for that there needs to be a desire from the other side, and we don’t see that yet.

“I think any sensible person would understand that it would be rubbish, drivel, nonsense, for Russia to embark on such an escapade on the eve of a presidential election. It’s just unthinkable.”

Russia’s ambassador to the EU, Vladimir Chizhov, even hinted the Salisbury nerve agent could have come from the UK military’s chemical weapons laboratory at Porton Down. The Foreign Secretary described Mr Chizhov’s response as a combination of “smug sarcasm and denial”, and said he was lying.

Inspectors from the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) have today come to the UK to take samples of Novichok. The tests are expected to last for two weeks.

Mr Johnson insists that the British Government had given Russia “every opportunity” to come up with an explanation for how the nerve agent (manufactured in Russia) came to be in Britain.

“Their response has been a sort of mixture of smug sarcasm and denial, obfuscation and delay,” Mr Johnson said.

“In response to Mr Chizhov’s point about Russian stockpiles of chemical weapons: We actually had evidence within the last ten years that Russia has not only been investigating the delivery of nerve agents for the purposes of assassination, but it has also been creating and stockpiling Novichok.”

Two days ago, Russia announced it would expel 23 British diplomats, matching the number of Russian spies ordered to leave the UK. It also closed a consulate and barred the British Council from working in the country.

Mr Johnson has travelled to Brussels today to brief foreign ministers from across the European Union on the attack. He then held talks with NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg. The National Security Council will meet tomorrow to discuss the UK’s response. Mr Johnson suggested there would not be an immediate retaliation.

He said ministers were “hardening our borders” and ensuring the authorities pursued Russians who had “corruptly obtained their wealth”.

In interviews given by Mr Chizhov, he claimed that Mr Skripal had been “almost forgotten” in Russia.

“He has been living in Britain for eight years now. Before that – I think I should stress the point – he was officially pardoned by presidential decree.” He also claimed that because Yulia was a Russian citizen, the British authorities had violated “consular convention” by not allowing Russian officials access to her in hospital.

Russia had “no stockpiles whatsoever” of chemical weapons, he said. “Actually, Russia has stopped production of any chemical agents back in 1992. So, we cannot even talk about any chemical agents produced by Russia. All that have been produced previously was produced by the Soviet Union.”

Russia signed the Chemical Weapons Convention in 1992. The treaty – which aims to end the development, production, stockpiling and transfer of chemical weapons – is enforced by the OPCW.

In February last year, the OPCW presented Russia with a plague to mark the destruction of its declared stockpiles of chemical weapons.

. See also, Opinion: UK measures and sanctions on Russia still leaves us vulnerable

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