Remember when the prime minister told us that the Brexit deal was oven-ready, the easiest deal in history?
We were told that this “great deal” for the UK “delivered everything that we wanted from Brexit” and would “keep the whole of the UK together?”
Well, that was back then.
Today, EU chief Ursula von der Leyen has rejected Boris Johnson’s plea to renegotiate the post-Brexit deal on Northern Ireland after a phone call with him.
Her message came a day after Brexit minister Lord Frost demanded that significant changes are made to the terms of the deal he negotiated saying “we cannot go on as we are”.
But he held back from immediately suspending parts of the deal, despite claiming the UK would be justified to take the dramatic step.
PM @BorisJohnson called to present the UK Command paper on the Irish/Northern Irish Protocol.
— Ursula von der Leyen (@vonderleyen) July 22, 2021
The EU will continue to be creative and flexible within the Protocol framework. But we will not renegotiate.
We must jointly ensure stability and predictability in Northern Ireland.
Ms von der Leyen said Mr Johnson “called to present” the proposals to solve the post-Brexit trade issues between Northern Ireland and Great Britain on Thursday morning.
“The EU will continue to be creative and flexible within the Protocol framework. But we will not renegotiate,” she tweeted.
“We must jointly ensure stability and predictability in Northern Ireland.”
Johnson clip
Earlier in the day, businesssSecretary Kwasi Kwarteng said the protocol, which effectively keeps Northern Ireland in the EU’s single market for goods, was never “something that was going to last forever”.
So this two-minute supercut by @AndrejNkv featuring clips from 2019 where Johnson constantly championed his “oven-ready deal” which already looks to be past its sell-by-date, is very much worth a watch.
Sit back and endure…
Watch
Just a 2:07 super cut of Boris Johnson saying how absolutely fantastic the withdrawal agreement is. pic.twitter.com/fllZTz9UwO
— James Ball (@jamesrbuk) September 8, 2020
Every tv station should play this
— Dr Grace Hurford (@dr_hurford) September 8, 2020
Other political parties should just play it as their party political broadcast.
— Chris Smith (@cmsdrums) September 15, 2020
— Aidan Halpin (@aidanbhalpin) September 8, 2020
Related: Food supply chains ‘on edge of failing’ as ‘pingdemic’ and Brexit bite
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