Article 16 of the NIP

My understanding is that rticle 16 is a dispute resolution mechanism.

It would appear that successive Brexit Ministers think it is a weapon.

Article 16 can be used, should be used, if one of the parties (UK or EU) feel at the NIP isn't woring as intended.

This opens a period or negotiations to resolve any potential dispute.

If the other side feels the paintiff's case is without merit, they can then launch proportionate action in response.

So, the UK would have to show that the NIP is not working as intended. It would appear to me that it is working as intended, it was agreed there would be a regulatory border in the Irish Sea, and there is. That the Government and DUP now feel this is unacceptable is, well, unfortunate. But, if the UK, or Britain leaves the EU's SM and CU, there has to be a border, somewhere.

THe only alternative is across the island of Ireland, and this clearly is against many parts of the GFA.

The new Minister responsible for Brexit, Liz Truss, made a policy announcement in a column in the Sunday Telegraph.

The Telegraph is Johnson's paper of choice when making grand announcements. Johnson used to be a paid contributer to the paper.

Might not be a coincidence.

THere are no current distribution figures of the Telegraph, last ones I can find is 360,000 in 2019.

Truss's column, like most Telegraph stories, are behind a paywall, so most can't read it. That most readers of the Telegraph are hardcore Conservative supports, it is reasonable to tate that the column was for domestic consumption, either as part of Government policy or as part of the early stages of a leadership campaign by Truss.

The internet does not stop at the White Cliffs, the EU can read the papers, this will further sour relations. But is it another case of saying one thing in negotiations and another in public?

One had hoped those days were at an end, but that would mean the UK Government could be taken seriously.

Yeah, how mad would that be?