Sorry: needs must when the devil drives …

 

 

One week into Lent and I had to break my resolution of foregoing ‘News’. So forgive me, but circumstances forced me: “we” have a NI treaty with the EU! Rejoice, innit like, and all hail Rishi!  Here’s the collection of this morning’s MSM print front pages, with only Mirror, Sun and Star not addressing this ever so fabulous deal. It seems the red tops believe their readers are too thick to be interested in such political hijinks.

One detail made me angry: in the ubiquitous photo of Ms vdL we see her tactlessly sporting a ukrainian ribbon on the lapel of her jacket. Why? I’ve not seen any such ‘declaration’ by her or any other top politician on the occasion of such an important visit.to me, this underlines that this visit and the ‘treaty’ was simply  a PR exercise, a performance in the political theatre to dazzle us peasants. The name, ‘Windsor Framework’, coupled with ‘Tea with the King in Windsor Castle’‘ makes this clear. 

Regarding this ‘Tea with the King’ event: for once, Reman Central dared to raise a protest squeak, disguised by making it sound as if only Brexiteers were critical (this and the following emphases are mine):

“Downing Street has been criticised by Brexiteers and Unionists for a “crass” and “antagonistic” decision to authorise a meeting between the King and Ursula von der Leyen yesterday. The president of the European Commission was photographed shaking hands with the King after sealing a Brexit deal at a joint press conference with Rishi Sunak. Buckingham Palace and the government both said that the other was responsible for von der Leyen’s invitation for tea at Windsor Castle, a move which has prompted claims that the King had been dragged into political controversy over the deal.” (link, paywalled)

Of course, a cynical old cow like me might think that Sunak cleverly dangled this visit in front of Ms vdL who seems to regard her EU “leadership” in the light of collecting visits with ‘political celebs’. Did Sunak let it be known that such visit could be arranged if ‘the deal’ was acceptable? Or did she tell him: ‘get me to have tea with the King and I’ll sign’? Ms Alrene Foster’s remarks are to the point:

“Arlene Foster, the former DUP first minister of Northern Ireland, said she “could not quite believe that No 10 would ask the King to become involved in the finalising of a deal as controversial as this one”. She added: “It’s crass and will go down very badly in Northern Ireland. We must remember this is not the King’s decision but the government who, it appears, are tone deaf.” (link, paywalled)

In a brief commentary piece in the DT, Ms Foster cautions that the devil is in the details, writing:

“The legal text will be revelatory. Without the television cameras and warm words, it provides black-and-white answers. The Prime Minister has had his say, now it’s over to the DUP to have theirs. Let’s hope the spin he has put on the deal holds up when the text is examined.” (paywalled link) 

That is indeed the question! Even the brief summary made in Remain Central, labelling this as ‘Sunak’s Rabbit’ which he pulled out of the hat, shows that the two sides were more interested in ‘tea with the King – now!’ than such details. The Times’ reporters call it the “Stormont Brake”:

“The agreement’s rabbit out of the hat. The Northern Ireland assembly could object to new EU single market rules that applied to the province. The UK government would then apply a veto to these rules. The brake would not apply if Stormont is not operating.” (link, paywalled)

That looks more like a loophole for both the EU and the UK to me – but what do I know … One only has to look at the sub-headline in Remain Central to know who actually was ‘the winner’, and to realise why yon broadsheet is praising this ‘treaty’: “It took three months of negotiations but the prime minister proved to Brussels that he was committed to compromise” (link, paywalled). Moreover, this report quotes Ms vdL as saying that she and Rishi had seen ‘eye-to-eye in world affairs from the frist time they met’. I felt nauseous just reading this tosh. 

It’s even worse when the erstwhile august paper, formerly known as ‘The Times’, explains to their readers why this fab treaty saw the light-of-day, asking why the EU was ‘willing to go so much further’. Put your cups, mugs and tumblers down before reading their explanation:

“From their point of view, perhaps the most important words were von der Leyen’s greeting of “dear Rishi” — making abundantly clear that the concessions made by Brussels were intimately linked with the prime minister not being either of his two predecessors. Running through the European Commission president’s words was implicit rejection of both Boris Johnson and Liz Truss, after years in which relations between London and Brussels went into the deep freeze.” (link, paywalled)

Leaving aside the fact that neither vdL nor Sunak were ‘negotiating’ with each other but that their SpAds and underlings were: this explanation demonstrates two things. One is that Brussels still believes that they have the power to determine our policies by blocking everything when they ‘dislike’ our elected representatives. So excuse me if I don’t ‘rejoice’.

The other is that the current PM and the current Brussels ‘head’ are trying to show that they alone, like kings and emperors in former times, have the power to determine the fate of nations. We peasants better believe in their dazzling performances and overlook the details of whatever they’ve ‘negotiated’. The Arlene Fosters of this world can be disregarded. They don’t dazzle.

It doesn’t seem to even enter the head of yon EU laydee that she has also shown to the world that she, i.e. Brussels, were doing politics like toddlers in kindergarten who won’t play with those they don’t like. I’d like to know if she likes Starmer even better than Sunak – or if her dislike will scupper Labour’s trot to victory?

That’s all I have for today. I wonder if Ms vdL’s ukrainian ribbon was meant to upstage Johnson who rushed to support yon country before Ms vdL had even got out of bed. I also wonder how conciliatory Sunak will be when he deals with the mandarins regarding illegal immigration. Have a good day.



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