Following on from claims by anonymous sources in the UK government that Britain would seek to sabotage the workings of the European Union if its extortionate demands in the Brexit negotiations were not met, late last night we had a nameless but senior Downing Street official – widely believed to be the anti-EU activist turned prime ministerial aide Dominic Cummings – uttering new threats against Europe through a journalist with the right-wing Spectator magazine. According to the Guardian:
On Monday evening, shortly after the EU’s comprehensive point-by-point deconstruction of the British proposals was published by the Guardian, the Spectator’s political editor, James Forsyth, made public a text he had received from a “contact in Number 10” on the state of play.
Ireland’s prime minister was said to have “gone back on his word” by attacking the British government’s proposals rather than shifting the EU’s position in response to British moves on an all-Ireland regulatory zone for goods.
The Downing Street source puts his faith in threats. Any member state who acquiesces to such an extension request will go to the “back of the queue” when it comes to future cooperation “both within and outside EU competences”. A mysteriously redacted threat over defence and security is also made.
Today the situation deteriorated even further as the authorities in London broke diplomatic protocol and convention by spinning an early morning conversation between Boris Johnson and Angela Merkel over the Brexit impasse into a confrontational edict by Germany’s Chancellor in a clearly coordinated campaign to stir up long-standing anti-Irish and -German sentiment in the country and among the more xenophobic sections of the domestic press. Again from the Guardian.
The row erupted after Johnson and Merkel had a phone conversation in which they could not find a common position over Northern Ireland.
In an extraordinary briefing about the confidential discussion between the leaders, a No 10 source later said the German chancellor’s demands for Northern Ireland to remain in a customs union made a deal look “essentially impossible, not just now but ever”.
The briefing prompted a frustrated reaction from Donald Tusk, the European council president, who tweeted directly at Johnson: “What’s at stake is not winning some stupid blame game. At stake is the future of Europe and the UK as well as the security and interests of our people. You don’t want a deal, you don’t want an extension, you don’t want to revoke. Quo vadis? [Where are you going?]”
With the government of the United Kingdom indulging in tabloid-style politics and hooligan diplomacy it seems that Greater England has lost its long-standing ability to fool much of the international community into seeing the country as other than it is: the cradle of an historically avaricious and violent polity that has been unable and unwilling to come to terms with its reduced status among the nations of the world.
AN SIONNACH FIONN 
I agree Seamas, particularly with your last sentence, which summarizes a lot of the UK’s antics.
“In negotiating Brexit the UK government didn’t seem to realise the UK was free to make its choice but was not free to choose the consequences of that choice”.
https://eurofree3.wordpress.com/2019/10/06/bits-and-pieces/
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+1. That’s a great way of putting it ASF. Going to quote that line in future to people.
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Further reflections on Quo Vadis (frae ra dug) here :
https://weegingerdug.wordpress.com/2019/10/08/quo-vadis/
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It’s like the lonely little guy in the playground threatening his 27 classmates. Good luck with that one.
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Aye, but isn’t that how school shootings start..?
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No idea! School shootings aren’t really a thing in this part of the world, thank Christ.
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Spain, France, Germany, and Irish Americans were the natural allies of Ireland from history, the 1998 GFA was over the top in creating the falsehood that the English and Irish were somehow reconciled as fraternal friends.
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Apart from anything else, that is extremely well worded. The English ruling class has been historically cruel to its own people on top of the rest of the world it afflicted . Then again I really blame the trash media for much of this. The empire of Murdoch knows no boundaries (or sense of decency).
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Yet, the English working class were filled with the notion that they were still superior to the natives in the Empire
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Certainly, and a lot of that is still manifest. It suits the projects of the masters of mankind to have their servants kicking downwards (or rather, with the idea that they are kicking downwards)
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Certainly. And that attitude is still manifest. It suits the projects of the masters of mankind to have their servants kicking downwards (or rather, thinking they are kicking downwards)
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Meanwhile as a practical example of how Brexit will destroy business and jobs in Scotland one only need consider the matter of brand destruction.
In a race over recent weeks there has been a race to cover supermarket produce in the Union Jack.
And so beef, pork, lamb, chicken, fish and vegetables produced in Scotland and branded as such usually by a Saltire are being rebranded with the Union Jack and noted to be of UK origin.
And so for consumers wanting to choose a locally produced product minimising food miles and supporting Scottish farmers and jobs they can no longer do so because of the orgy to rebrand and submerge product identity.
But the branding destruction is bigger than that.
Branding sells and it is a huge issue. Over recent years Scotland the Brand had worked hard to promote Scottish products.
Post the BSE – mad cow scandal all those years ago, Scottish ( and Irish beef ) emerged as the safe well produced product. But do have other products too like Scottish Salmon, Scottish shell fish, farming produce generally, Harris Tweed. They have all achieved good brand recognition.
So consider Scotch Whisky then as an extreme example of Uber branding. With sales of Scottish whisky running into billions of pounds it is is not just a Scottish success but in fact one of the UK’s biggest exports.
Does anyone think that branding Scottish whisky as a UK product wrapped in a Union Jack will improve or destroy sales.
The answer is clear. No it won’t and this is exactly what this destructive English centric empire fascinated Johnson government are doing to Scotland, it’s businesses and it’s people.
It’s outrageous and is an example of how this vicious government will burn us and other constituent parts of the current UK.
But consider further Trump and his 25% levy going on to imported whisky. And consider also one of the strands of his post Brexit trade deal negotiations that US distillers be allowed to market whisky as Scotch.
Against that background no need to buy the real imported and more expensive Scotch whisky with the weakened brand identity.
In fact why not Argentinian produced Scotch or Peruvian Scotch
Just I think another example of how the vindictive and insane Jonhson and his vicious ilk will sink us all.
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What makes you think the decision to put Union flags on products has anything to do with Johnson? Given the amount of Scottish goods that are sold in England, it’s more likely the makers are worried that xenophobic Wnglish customers might mistake the saltire for a European flag and refuse to buy things with it on.
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Selling into England is of course something that Scottish producers of food indeed do – and stores do change the branding depending on the target market.
But take Aldi who were absolutely fantastic at sourcing Scottish products for Scottish shelves and branding them as such. Now over the last two weeks Scottish produce is being rebranded with a Union Jack. Who do you think has initiated this policy.
Or going in to Morrisons, some of the aisles now look like the last night of the Proms with all Saltire branding gone. Indeed in the rush to re-brand Scottish beef, Morrison’s are actually Union Jack labelling whilst ditching the slaughter and cutting codes required by law. Indeed, as a Morrison’s butcher said….” there’s such a rush to cover everything in the Union Jack that we’re ditching labelling that should be provided”
Who do you think initiated that Jim.
But maybe flags in Scotland are not important. God bless this sudden spread of Union Jackery and maybe high time that driving licences were forced to have added the UJ as licences in Scotland now have added – and I certainly wish you well Jim if all the Irish products and everything else in NI gets blootered with Union Jacks. Msybevit will sell Irish produce.
Otherwise, best Regards Jim for theorising another explanation.
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Aldi’s a German company, so it wouldn’t be much influenced by BJ and Co.
Even if the Brit-branding is taking place on scale you think, how do you suppose BJ would bring it about? There’d certainly have been leaks to the press and howls of mockery by now.
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Yes and in the race to obliterate everything in Union Jacks – consider NI ( and ROI ) produce too
Bushmill whiskey as opposed to Scotch whisky. Do does anyone think Union Jack, produce of GB will help sales of the Uiscge Beatha ( or Uisge as it is here)
Or of Irish beef. Unionist farmers might be having a thought or two about how they’d like their beef sold – especially if the UK out of Europe is ditching visibility on the traceability codes.
But as Johnson says ‘ let’s just do this thing”
Kind of ever do delicately reminds us as to why we need out – and then some
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According to the British media this evening Johnson and Vradakar post their Merseyside discussions today can see the pathway forward.
Ah well that’s good then. Everything sorted.
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Dare I be bold enough to dream that a border poll on NI remaining in the EU be an option.
Don’t know, not close enough. And would , if such a poll were to happen, the answer be to keep NI along with the ROI in the EU. But devil and detail, speculation, and maybe kicking the can down the road only to welsh on a deal later, who knows.
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That would be great, but I’m afraid there’s no chance. A NI-only EU poll would essentially be a poll on the reunification of Ireland, and there’s no way the southern parties (barring Sinn Fein) would support that, never mind Northern unionists and the Tories.
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Is Boris about to shaft Arlene (in a metaphorical sense obvs)?
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And right on cue the UVF and UDA start making threatening noises, which are dutifully carried by the Sunday Times, Belfast Telegraph et al. It’s telling that there’s not a word of criticism of the DUP in any of the loyalist briefings, just warnings to Boris Johnson of the consequences of “selling out” the DUP and, by extension, Northern Ireland.
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