Brexit. Why do Brits want Out of the EU?

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The Brexit minister, David Frost, signalled his acceptance that the negotiations with the EU would continue into the new year, issuing a statement saying the checks due to come into force on 1 January would be postponed as an act of “good faith”.

“The government believes that this pragmatic act of goodwill can help to maintain space for continued negotiations on the protocol,” Lord Frost said. “It also ensures that traders in both Ireland and Northern Ireland are not faced with further uncertainty while the protocol arrangements themselves are still under discussion.”

Frost spoke to his European commissioner counterpart, Maroš Šefčovič, on Wednesday and will speak again on Friday, with high expectation that the talks will be put on ice over the Christmas break.
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New figures have shown that UK food and drink exports to the EU plunged by almost a quarter in the nine months after Boris Johnson’s Brexit deal took effect, compared to pre-pandemic levels, with a loss of £2.4bn in sales.

Exports to big European markets were hit hard, with sales to Spain down by more than half (50.6 per cent) on 2019 levels, Germany by 44.5 per cent and Italy by 43.3 per cent, according to the Food and Drink Federation. Sales to the industry’s largest overseas market, the Republic of Ireland, were down by more than a quarter.

And industry leaders warned that the downturn could be “here to stay”, in a blow not only to Mr Johnson’s “global Britain” aspirations but also his plans to “level up” disadvantaged parts of the country.

The FDF said that the slump in sales could be blamed both on new barriers to trade created by Brexit and Mr Johnson’s Trade and Cooperation Agreement (TCA) with Brussels and on the global Covid-19 pandemic.

The government’s retreat from its hardline position in negotiations with the EU over Brexit arrangements in Northern Ireland has elicited a furious response from the most senior unionist in the House of Lords.

Lord Dodds, the former deputy leader of the Democratic Unionist party, has issued a veiled threat of “action” unless it restores the option of pulling the plug on the Northern Ireland protocol by using the article 16 process.

“Every day that passes with the protocol in place is another day which sees Northern Ireland and Great Britain move further apart. This is unsustainable.

“If the UK government can’t or won’t act, then unionism will and soon,” he said in a statement.

He was responding to reports that the UK has dropped its demands for removal of the role of the European Court of Justice from the Northern Ireland protocol.

Brexit minister David Frost has resigned from Boris Johnson’s cabinet in protest at “the direction of travel,” triggering a fresh crisis inside Downing Street after an already turbulent week for the prime minister.

Lord Frost – one of the most popular members of the cabinet among the Conservative faithful – handed in his resignation a week ago and had been persuaded to stay in his post until January but last night said he would step down “with immediate effect.”

His resignation represents a major political blow for the prime minister who is already facing a series of crises over “gatherings” in No 10 during Covid restrictions, growing discontent on the Tory backbenches over his leadership and this week’s historic loss in the North Shropshire by-election.

Meanwhile, Senior Tory MP Tobias Ellwood has said the departure of Lord Frost could bring an opportunity to “press the reset button with the EU”.

Former minister Mr Ellwood said: “We’re still not out of the woods with the Northern Ireland Protocol and we have some rather larger decisions and challenges, which actually unite both the EU, Europe and Britain.”

He said: “As much as I think this is going to be seen as a hit for the Government, he was a critical character that’s been with Boris Johnson from the very start when it comes to Brexit, this is a chance for us to actually to sort of move forward on our relationship with the EU.”

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There is concern that Johnson, under huge pressure from the right of his Conservative party over Covid restrictions, will feel the need to replace Lord Frost with someone who will want to unravel the new approach.

On Sunday, reports suggested that figures such as Iain Duncan Smith, the former work and pensions secretary, or even David Davis, who resigned as Theresa May’s Brexit secretary in 2018, could be in the running. Both men have called for the ditching of the Northern Ireland protocol in the past.
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Liz Truss has got the EU negotiator role