@Brian McDonnell: Any leader elected by media cheerleaders as with Leo and Boris is doomed to implosion

@William Campbell: I think you’re right. The timing and circumstances are not what BJ would have wanted. Part of me thinks that his own party are handing him the leadership on a silver plate as if to say “You made this mess Boris, now you clean it up.”

@William Campbell:
So he has still been looking out for himself but just pushed to act before he wanted to?

@WoodlandBard: just like any TD this country has ever elected.

@wattsed56: You’re seriously comparing British colonialism, imperialism and exploitation of Ireland to the downsides of being a member of the EU? You have just proofed that Anti-Irishness is not nonsense.

@Derek Butcher: Not what I suggested. The right to self determination. There are many in the UK who had previous generations suffer at the hands of exploitation in various forms by UK politicians and institutions. Many still do. My point was missed by you, just as the population of a democratic country has the right, by a majority of either elected political leaders or a democratic vote to join a Union, or remain, so be it they can decide to leave it. RoI was previously occupied by a foreign administration, you decided by a majority, but not all, that you wanted independence and sovereignty. I don’t understand the anti Irish interpretation by you in my comment. Explain?

@wattsed56: As you said yourself “Ireland was occupied” Britain is not occupied nor are it’s citizens being abused, starved or robbed of their land by the EU. Therefore comparing the Irish fight for independence to the British wish of more sovereignty is a belittling of the Irish oppression by the British. Hence it’s anti Irish.

@Derek Butcher: So for how many more years will this in your psyche?
I guess it’s your choice, if you wish to remain in the time warp you’re currently in then so be it. Eventually, people will move on, and look more to the future instead of the bitterness of the past.

@jackbello: That’s up to your lot to sort out. The backstop isn’t going anywhere.

@Mark Waldron: couldn’t agree more. The whole deal is no good – at most it’s two years of continued membership in all but name , only at the end if it we are no closer to any trade deal.

the chances of the likes of France etc agreeing with any UK solution to the NON ISSUE THAT IS THE BORDER , are zero – the back trap will all but certainly be applied and what then is Britain to do ???

. As a tory voter I’m only to happy that bojo has committed to leaving , deal or no Deal. – once we’ve gone if Germany want to continue supplying it’s overpriced cars yourselves , cheddar cheese …you’re welcome to do so …but on the understanding tarriffs will need to be applied.

Time will only tell whether after we’ve fully left , the EU would like to trade with us tariff-free . What’s sure tho , is were the UK ever stupid enough to accept that back-trap , then come two years it would definitely be activated no ifs no buts.

@jackbello: If the British border is a non-issue then why does the backstop bother you so much?

@Mark Waldron: it’s not that it bothers me – it’s the peculiar obsession of it by the EU and your good self’s. … of course making into am issue is totally understandable from the EU side – it’s a means (albeit artificial ) of trying to scupper the uk’s exit.

It ain’t working tho – as no deal will prove

@jackbello: What’s peculiar about a country looking after its own interests? A hard border would be very bad news for all concerned. You might be right about a no-deal exit though. It’s difficult to see this situation being resolved otherwise and I think most people would rather get it done and deal with the consequences, whatever they might be.

@jackbello: Just back from holidays in France and Spain. Talked to a lot of people about politics and of course brexit. The ordinary man and women on the street in those countries are happy to see the UK leaving, especially the French. I think after a period of chaos this will work out better for the EU. The UK doesn’t have to worry anymore as Trump loves you all. He’ll do the UK a wonderful deal, the best deal ever in history. This is perfect for a society that loves their class system. You don’t want that pesky EU telling you that unemployed steel workers have the same rights as the ruling classes of the tories.

@Mark Waldron: who’s talking about a hard border? That’s just an EU construct – part of project fear. I would bet anything on the fact that in the event of no deal , there will be no hard border. The Irish government have consistently said that they will put up no ‘hard border’ (whatever that actually is ) and likewise the UK. Of course Ireland could be ordered to put one up by its masters in Brussels. ..but wouldn’t that violate the precious good Friday agreement ??

@Manbackonboard: the ordinary man on the street …..in France ? I been watching the news from france these last few months …. and I see those” men from streets” out doing their thing every Saturday – about this sort of time right now .

i Didnt know that there were many pro eu yellow vest types among them.
and besides since when in Europe did it ever matter what the man on the street ever thought ?

@jackbello: You do understand how WTO rules work don’t you? Under the WTO system the UK will be obliged to impose tarrifs on all goods and services into the UK and likewise will have those tarriffs imposed on all exports unless the UK has a Trade Deàl in place with the other country/trade bloc.
Now the UK can choose to take the zero tarriff approach, but that opens a “Pandora’s Box” for the UK’s Farmers and Business. Because under WTO rules, Zero Tarriffs must apply equally to every country/trading bloc in the WTO that the UK wishes to trade without exception. So if the UK chose to sell widgets in say Brazil then the UK market would then be open to tarriff free Brazilian beef. That would destroy UK Beef farmers. Similarly trade with the US would see cheap grain being dumped on the UK driving grain farmers out of business. Australian and New Zealand Lamb and mutton likewise. Chinese consumer goods would flood the UK market unhindered by tarriffs. Thus under cutting many UK domestic firms. And the worst thing is those countries do not have to have reciprocal agreements in zero tarriffs as it would be the the UK’s choice alone to go Zero Tarriff.
So back to WTO tarriffs. If the UK choose to keep them then they will be obliged to impose them and that means Custom Posts at the point of entry where the Goods can be checked to see if the tarriffs have been paid or to accept payment if they have not. And that means Permant Customs posts on the border with the associated Security Structures for the PSNI and Army to protect them. Which would be in breach of the Good Friday Agreement.

@jackbello: A hard border might contravene the GFA in spirit but it’s actually quite a vague document so it doesn’t absolutely rule out a hard border. Also, I was under the impression that one of the main points of Brexit was taking back control of your borders. If NI isn’t to become a wide-open back door to the UK then border controls will be necessary, unless there were to be customs and immigration checks on the British mainland for all goods and people coming from NI. The DUP won’t allow that of course because it represents an ‘existential threat’ to the Union, so the border will have to be between NI and the Republic. If there is to be no substantial difference in regulations and laws between the UK and the EU, allowing free movement of goods and people then Brexit is effectively meaningless.

@jackbello: you really havent thought this through now have you

@jackbello: Is English your first language?

@jackbello: idiot

@Peter Hughes: Boris obviously wants to be Winston Churchill but unfortunately he’s got none of Churchill’s gravitas, strength, or leadership and all of Churchill’s racism

@FlopFlipU: I looked a bit deeper into it. It’s very much still suggestions at this stage. Something they want to put through the new parliment. So I was wrong when I said it was active support. It’s not yet. Thanks for reminding me to double check what I post.

@Edmund Murphy: There are other options on the table funded and supported by the EU that dont incur direct funding btw;
http://www.housingeurope.eu/
The Journal just did pithy an article on alt housing for Limerick but doesnt say where the money comes from.

@Alan Brazil: i agree kick them out now, demand the divorce bill be paid by the end of the week, give them 3 weeks to build a border and watch NI completely crumble

@Karl Charlie: aren’t you missing the point ? Post Brexit the eu can’t be ordering anything from the UK – ifs there’s any direction towards building a border …it will be from Brussels to Dublin.

@jackbello: Do you really think the UK will leave their only land border with the EU wide open? They absolutely won’t. A hard Brexit means a hard border. The only other option is border checks on the UK mainland for anything coming from NI to prevent a back door into the UK. Should that be the case then your problem is not Ireland, it’s Unionists.

@Mark Waldron: yes i really do. The UK is a whole lot more relaxed about customs imports than euroland. Brussels does seem to have a fetish about anything coming in from outside the guilded cage. If it comes in …….It must be taxed ( never mind the fact it’s your consumer who ultimately pays that tax) . I can’t remember who it was – possibly David Davis … he was on lbc last week and made the point that as far as he UK is concerned, the uk can live with low level customs evasion. The big boys r another story and will be targeted – which can be done with random /intelligence led customs inspections away from the border. The idea of completely sealing the border (like the one between Poland and Ukraine or Bulgaria and turkey) is a very European way of doing things…. expected i suppose , since all of that lovely customs duty exercised on the imports ….. ….. goes direct to Brussels , hence they really want their pound of flesh regardless of cross border friction

@jackbello: David Davis can say what he likes – he’s no longer in any position of power and has never understood the real issues. The UK has been relaxed about customs for the past 40+ years because it has been a member of the EU.
When the UK leaves the EU that will have to change. The UK will become a ’3rd country’ and will quite rightly be subject to EU customs and regulatory checks. Otherwise the integrity of the European Union is compromised in a similar way that the integrity of the British Union is compromised by any regulatory divergence between NI and the rest of the UK. This is the quandary.
Read this…
https://www.rte.ie/news/analysis-and-comment/2019/0614/1055418-double-whammy-a-no-deal-brexit-and-northern-ireland/

@jackbello: they do it to annoy the UK and Nato we are neutral oh waot facys are not your specialty

@Mick Murphy: i think you misunderstand what the vote to leave was all about. I didn’t vote to leave because I thought it would definitely make the UK economically better off. In fact all the warnings were there that gdp would drop. I don’t know anyone who voted to leave cos it would make us all richer – in fact apart from the arguments about the annual payments to the EU , I reckon money didn’t even come into it.

The fact is …had we voted to remain , you could be 100 per cent sure that no referendum would ever be allowed again – had that vote gone the other way , we’d have been in the EU forever, and no farage like party could do anything about it. I might have considered voting differently had I known there would be another vote in 5 years time and 5 years after that and so on. But it was a one time only vote – leave now or forever be trapped….

@jackbello: I’m sure you’re aware that as the U.K. has not a written constitution (Magna Carta notwithstanding), a referendum is merely an indication of how the British and Northern Irish people feel about a given proposition at any given time for Parliament to note. Just like a general election, it can indeed be reviewed every five years. The difference being, you will need the ascent of 27 other countries should you leave and wish to rejoin.