Stupid is as stupid does

Sir David Frost is furious at the person who negotiated the NIP, a certain Sir David frost, for negotiating a protocol that created a border in the Irish Sea, that he denied, that he now says in unworkable that the EU must fix before July 12th.

Or else.

The NIP is part of the WA, and international treaty that the UK negotiated and entered into freely.

The UK with Sir David Frost, I mean he literally got knighted for the negotiation and "getting Brexit done", either understood what he negotiated and realised it was unworkable and planned, along with Johnson that it would be broken at some point, or didn't understand what it was he negotiated.

Either a liar or stupid.

The UK left the EU.

On top of that, chose to leave the SM and CU, so a regulatory border has to exisit, the only question is where.

The NIP broke the UK single market, and in a twist, the more Britain diverges from EU standards, the harder the border in the Irish Sea will be.

Any damage done to NI or Ireland as an island will make the possibility of a trade deal with the US impossible. And anyway, Biden has made it clear, that the EU is more important that the UK in terms of trade, which is a matter of econmic reality and trade volumes.

Meanwhile, the DUP has voted in an extreme hardliner to lead the party. He wants the NIP gone.

There is no alternative to the NIP.

Breaking it will have consequences.

Not good ones.

Here is a series of tweets that UK travellers and tourists will have to abide to when travelling to or through France and Spain, and probably the whole of the EU common travel area:

Thanks to @jamesmb:

At the border, you may be asked for three pieces of information:

1. Motive for your stay in France

This can be satisfied by:

- for tourism: a hotel or other accommodation reservation

- for a private visit for example to visit and stay with a friend: “attestation d'accueil” delivered by the “mairie” (more on this below)

2. Means of living (cash, traveller's cheques, valid international credit card) along with an insurance certificate covering all medical, hospital and funeral expenses, which may be incurred during the entire period of your stay in France, inc medical repatriation costs;

3. Guarantees of return: return ticket.

Just to remind you, these are standard rules for third-country nationals and nothing particularly to do with Brits.

So, about the “attestation d'accueil”. Here are the rules: https://service-public.fr/particuliers/vosdroits/F2191 Basically, if you are staying with friends, you need to be registered with the town hall of the commune that you will be staying at PRIOR TO ENTERING THE COUNTRY.

The person housing you will need to provide a chunk of information (including proof of ownership of the property, proof of residence at the address, ID documents, proof of revenue, commit to supporting you financially if required and so on).

There is a 30€ fee.

The relevant town hall can take up to one month to respond.

The applicant will be issued with a certificate which they will then need to send to you for you to be able to enter the country.

Now, I'm sure somebody's forehead vein will be twitching as they type to respond to this but, here's the deal >> you voted for this. France is a sovereign country and it protects its borders. These are literally the sorts of rules your government loves.

Bottom line - You were European but you decided to go it alone. You're just another one of the other non-European countries now &, as such, you have to submit to the rules.

Do not think for a moment that this is unique to France. This is your new normal.

Own your Brexit.