USA State Department – collaborating with Brussels?
Dear me – reading today’s morning papers one might think that the USA is on the brink of a diplomatic break with us, over the NI protocol. The Whitehall Remainer Mandarins are dead keen to tie the hands of Lord Frost in the ongoing NI talks – nothing new there. This time they are making use of an ancient ploy: threatening with Big Daddy who wouldn’t like it if we were to actually insist on not caving in to the latest Brussels demands. After all, the G7 Summit starts tomorrow and surely Big Daddy will tell the PM to behave and do as he’s told.
Here is the very strange thing: there wasn’t even a hint about this US intervention in yesterday afternoon’s reports on those NI talks in the reports in the MSM. See for example the report in the Speccie (paywalled link) from late afternoon, or in the Guardian (link) published yesterday evening. This morning though it’s all about ‘Biden warns Johnson’ – but a closer look shows the fine hand of the Remain mandarins. Here’s The Times, of course, writing about this US ‘demarche’ which is ‘a formal diplomatic reprimand seldom exchanged between allies’:
“Yael Lempert, America’s most senior diplomat in Britain, told Lord Frost, the Brexit minister, at a meeting that the government was “inflaming” tensions in Ireland and Europe with its opposition to checks at ports in the province. In a move without recent precedent, Lempert said she had been told to take the step of issuing London with a demarche” (link, paywalled)
Now here is the very strange bit, the bit which makes me wonder who is actually doing what and why, and if this is perhaps a piece of political theatre meant for consumption inside the USA. Savour the way in which RemainCentral reports:
“The emergence of the memo comes before the first meeting between Biden and Johnson today and follows the failure yesterday of talks between Frost and Maros Sefcovic, the EU’s vice-president.” (link, paywalled)
Doesn’t this read as if this ‘demarche memo’ has been made to ‘emerge’ just in time? What are Remain Central and the other papers which copied that article – e.g. the DT (paywalled link) and the DM (link) – up to? These reports, published first in Remain Central and then copied by the rest, provide evidence that Whitehall is undermining Lord Frost’s NI talks by “emerging” this ‘demarche memo’ at a time when the greatest possible damage might be achieved:
“Government minutes of the June 3 meeting reveal that Frost was told of Biden’s “great concern” over his stance in a tense encounter at which Lempert was said to have “slowly and gravely read her instructions [from Washington] aloud”. She warned that the increasingly bitter dispute between Britain and the EU over the protocol was “commanding the attention” of Biden before his first bilateral meeting with Johnson today.” (link, paywalled)
Oh dear! I for one have serious doubts that this ‘demarche’ was written on an actual order of Biden. It looks to me as if some US State department hardliners were trying to be ‘helpful’ to their Irish ‘clients’. Alternatively, it looks as if some bureaucratic diplomats in the State Department were trying to cosy up to Brussels. After all, bureaucrats always understand each other, especially those dealing with ‘international’ issues. So it might well be that some EU ‘diplomats’ were asking some US ‘diplomats’ to please help, as this next quote indicates:
“The memo said that the US “strongly urged” Britain to come to a “negotiated settlement”, even if that meant “unpopular compromises”. It added: “Lempert said the US was increasingly concerned about the stalemate on implementing the protocol. This was undermining the trust of our two main allies. The US strongly urged the UK to achieve a negotiated settlement. It also stated: “Lempert implied that the UK had been inflaming the rhetoric, by asking if we would keep it ‘cool’.” (link, paywalled)
Interesting diplomatic language, isn’t it! However, this clearly refers to ‘a memo’, not to the actual demarche. Keep that in mind, we’ll come back to it. Next:
“However, in an olive branch to boost the chance of an agreement, she said that if Britain accepted demands to follow EU rules on agricultural standards, Biden would ensure that the matter “wouldn’t negatively affect the chances of reaching a US/UK free trade deal”.” (link, paywalled)
Note the ever so useful ‘carrot-stick’ approach! It’s obvious to me, a long-time observer of the underhand dealings, the en coulisse shenanigans by the Whitehall Remain Mandarins, that the timely ’emergence’ of this ‘memo’ is meant to frighten BJ into acceding to Brussels’ demands. Note the obfuscation created as The Times writes of a ‘memo’ which is also a ‘demarche’, nicely deployed here:
“Washington’s decision formally to rebuke the government exposes the distrust between the White House and No 10, which fears that a dispute with Biden over Northern Ireland could derail the G7.” (link, paywalled)
If this was a ‘formal rebuke’ why has this not ‘emerged’ – ’emerged’ being the new ‘leaked’ – earlier? Also, if No 10 ‘fears a dispute’, shouldn’t BJ have reined in Frosty? And then we read that this ‘demarche’ meeting between the US Chargé d’ Affairs, Ms Lempert, and Lord Frost took place on June 3rd! That’s before the latest round of NI talks even started! Here’s actual evidence that this ‘memo’ on the ‘demarche’ meeting has been made to ’emerge’ at the time calculated to inflict maximum damage:
“the official account of the meeting, written by Frost’s principal private secretary and circulated among senior Whitehall officials, notes that Biden had been reminded of “the sensitivity of public messaging” on the issue. Frost told Lempert, however, that the EU had “prioritised the integrity of the single market over peace in Northern Ireland” and suggested that Biden should tell European leaders to pursue a “less purist” approach.” (link, paywalled)
Well, the US clearly didn’t exhort Brussels, given the acerbic tones of Mr Sefcovic who seems to think he can be as intransigent as he likes, threatening us with tariffs should we dare to extend the exemption period unilaterally. This final quote is more evidence that Whitehall Remainers believe they can frighten Lord Frost into compliance by ‘going public’:
“The emergence of the memo came after the EU accused Johnson yesterday of putting Brexit “ideology” over the interests of Northern Ireland.” (link, paywalled)
That memo didn’t ‘emerge’, it was leaked on purpose. Whitehall Mandarins have sat on it – they can prevent leaks when it suits them. It’s noteworthy that fixing the blame on BJ and by extension Lord Frost, of being driven by ‘Brexit ideology’, came after Lord Frost had already pointed out that the EU is putting their ideology of the ‘single market’ above attempts of negotiation and outcome fair for all while safeguarding the Good Friday Agreement (GFA).
I leave you with a quote from an opinion piece written by Lord Trimble in RemainCentral (link, paywalled). I’ll refrain from recapitulating his and The Times’ arguments in their editorial (link, paywalled) regarding the GFA and the NI negotiations. We’ve heard it all before. However, nothing could better demonstrate the insanity pervading the whole NI talks, from the apparent factual ignorance in the US State Department, the intransigence of the EU and the Whitehall Remain Mandarins, than Lord Trimble’s observation:
“There are now more checks [at NI borders] than on all the trade that comes through the EU’s entire eastern frontier, a known smuggling route, or even Rotterdam, the EU’s main entrance for goods from the rest of the world.” (link, paywalled)
Working to ease that burden, as Lord Frost is trying to do, is ‘ideological’ and ‘inflammatory’? Who knew! Why am I not surprised that the Remain Mandarins are still trying to enforce EU demands, five years after our vote to Leave. The really funny thing is that this comes at a time when a poll by the EU’s own Council of Foreign Relations found that the majority of people in France, Germany, Italy and Spain say that the EU is now ‘broken’ (link, paywalled).
Far be it from me to insinuate that this ‘demarche’ was written ‘on demand from Brussels’, in the hope of keeping the EU dinosaur alive! Far be it from me to insinuate that this ‘memo’, not the actual demarche, ’emerged’ miraculously just in time to create maximum damage to our country!
Of course, it would be totally wrong to think that US State Department officials were trying to show ‘strength’ with this ‘demarche’ – just after Biden has waived US sanctions regarding Germany’s ‘NordStream2’ gas pipeline project with Russia (link) … nah, they wouldn’t, would they!
KBO!
Photo by NCinDC 
Boris needs sreious support. Cummings without the power would do.Maggie had Kieth Joseph, Willie Whitelaw and a few others. All with their heads screwed on and not after her job.That came from another more suspect quarter.. Nut Nut neetds neutralising. Could Highly trained and remorceless intelligenvce operatives arrange triplets…
The whole world watches open mouthed in awe at our leaders and their monumental errors , world breaking contortions and mental gymnastics to catapult them deeper into wonderland, and wonder at how they got there, and what, where, when how and why it is they do.
Perhaps we could contrive an artificial intelligence using screws an springs and coal and seawater and a starting handle, And place it in Guy Fawkes basements of Parliament, exhausting into the commons..
TG Spokes…Wait a sec, didn’t Guy Fawkes die several hundred years ago, or more to the point hung, drawn and quartered for his troubles, at least that’s what I read. Is he back in some form or another and taken up an office in the basement of Parliament.
Looks like Biden has picked up where Obarmy left off! There has been a suggestion that this is actually Obarmy’s ‘third term’.
I cannot think why anyone is surprised at the actions of the EU with regard to NI. It was always going to be a problem because the EU is intent on detaching NI from Great Briton and restoring it to the Eirean republic! Any dirty tricks that can be pulled off will be. Especially as our own Mandarins and Civil Service generally, is desperate to rejoin the EU and get their snouts back into the trough!
We have a ‘non-government’! There isn’t a backbone or a brain cell between any of them! I think Frosty is being ‘played’ from all sides! I do not doubt that the Bliar has his paws in this as well!
Absolutely right Frederica. Did Boris not see the problem or did he see it as a way to pursue his globalist ambitions? As for Bliar; perhaps better not to say what I would like to happen to him…
Jack if your thoughts are anything like mine they will be unprintable! The fact that this evil being has managed to get himself anywhere near the levers of power again is proof positive that we have a government that means us no good at all!
Are these people actually living in a time warp?
I mean, back in the day when WW2 had just ended and Churchill foresaw an iron curtain descending across Europe, Stalin’s Russia and the U.S.A. actually were the 2 Global Powers facing each other.
Britain was ‘finished’. Western Europe could be rebuilt in such a way that it was the Buffer Zone between the Global Powers. Britain would hang on the coat tails of the U.S.A.
But now we see Boris talking of ‘Global Britain’, having ‘led the world’ (or much of it anyway), in finding ‘the vaccine’ to vaccinate the whole world.
What’s more, if we can believe anything we are told, Global Britain is succeeding in opening up World Trade.
Heaven forbid. Britain might actually succeed!
Putin’s Russia, the big bad wolf, is still there but bits about China’s doings have been allowed to leak out.
Isn’t it obvious that the World has changed.
Anyone good at chess? I’m not. But I can’t help wondering who is frightened of what, on this global chessboard, and who is manipulating whom.
Why yes Pauline chess probably covers it. You might almost suspect Johnson for having ‘empirical’ thoughts! I wonder how he will square that with BLM and all those currently calling for the cancelling of white imperialists!!! Lol!
Wy do the Government continue to ignore the Commonwealth? Twice as many countries as the EU and four times the population; a common language and common legal basis. The UK should be playing to its strength to the benefit of the Commonwealth as a whole.
Perhaps of greatest significance for the West would be for India to replace China.
The G7 is a bit of a sham… a bit like the EU.
The script writers all work for the same firm and the best interests of individual Nation States and their people is of no concern to them.
That’s quite true dickatbarn. Even the interests of U.S.A., an individual Nation State, don’t count.
“slowly and gravely read her instructions [from Washington] aloud”
I have been helping my 5 year old granddaughter with her reading and can just imagine Ms. Lempert running her finger along under the words and silently mouthing the letters before saying them “aloud”.
My granddaughter has almost passed that stage, except for the big words, seems like Ms. Lempert has some way to go.