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| After the British Government was warned and warned…and warned some more, that pushing ahead with Brexit was going to cause untold damage to both the Good Friday Agreement, peace in Ireland and indeed the prospect of trade into and out of the UK, they went ahead with it anyhow. Academics, British Ministers, the EU, Business leaders…hell, even the average Joe on the street could see Brexit was going to force massive change within the UK and its boundaries and warned the British Government of the dangers ahead, but they pushed ahead emboldened by their extremely slim ‘Leave’ majority in the Brexit Referendum. The UK Government, in their official response to the EU’s legal challenge on suspending, in some cases I suspect in perpetuity, some parts of the NI Protocol are officially considering using ‘force majeure’ to fight its case, and absolve itself from its responsibilities enshrined within the NI Protocol. That’s right folks, the British Government wants to rip up and be relieved of its obligations which apply to the NI Protocol. Force majeure is actually a common clause in contracts which essentially frees both parties from liability or obligation when an extraordinary event or circumstance beyond the control of the parties, such as a war, strike, riot, crime, PANDEMIC, sudden legal changes, or an event described by the legal term ‘Act of God’, prevents one or both parties from fulfilling their obligations under the contract. In practice, most force majeure clauses do not excuse a party’s non-performance entirely, but only suspend it for the duration of the force majeure. How can the British Government absolve itself of any responsibility surrounding the NI Protocol? They, after all, negotiated it. The British negotiator was in the room day after day while the NI protocol was being thrown back and forth for bits and pieces to be added or removed. Force majeure would not cover any result of the negligence or malfeasance of a party, which has a materially adverse effect on the ability of such party to perform its obligations. With that in mind, did anyone remember the UK Government suspending negotiations while waiting for Trump to hopefully be re-elected as President of the United States of America to give them the “deal of the century” something which Johnson was hoping would leverage a deal from the EU. Sadly, for the UK Government, Trump lost the election and Biden became President of the USA which significantly weakened the UK’s hand in the negotiations as they had lost months of negotiating time and in the end, Biden stated he had more interest in trade deals with a bloc rather than individual countries. If the cause is a flash flood that damages a venue or makes the event dangerous to attend, then it would almost certainly come under the auspices of force majeure. However, if the venue was on a known flood plain or the area of the venue was known to be subject to torrential rain it would most certainly not. Brexit, by all accounts was most definitely on a political flood plain, the British Government itself stated there would be “tough times ahead” in regard to Brexit. The British Government knew Brexit was going to be rough, secret documents revealed such musings, yet they went ahead with it knowing full well it would damage relations with other countries, past agreements, peace deals and border settlements. Brexit was, and continues to be a ‘rule Britannia’ event for the Conservatives with its roots firmly set in nothing but ego. Many of the lies thrown out by the media machine and pro-Brexit influencers, when fact-checked were all found to be false, spun to show the EU as some kind of illegitimate power pushing against the UK and its people, when in fact, had ‘Brexiteers’ researched where the powerbases lay within the EU, they would have found that the UK had massive influence in the EU. Nothing passed in the EU without the UK agreeing to it…because the UK had a veto. Statements like “the EU is to blame for mass immigration to the UK”, was one of the main drivers for those voting ‘Leave’ to actually vote that way. Yet when the facts are looked into, two-thirds of immigrants who arrive in the UK already have job offers, with 93% of people claiming welfare payments like Jobseeker’s allowance or disability benefits being British nationals, with British passports and birth certificates originating in the UK. Recent research from University College London shows that migrants from the European Economic Area contributed 34% more in taxes than they received in benefits. From food manufacturing to healthcare, many industries the UK depends on would struggle without the contribution of migrants. 26% of doctors in the NHS were born abroad, proving that migration is literally vital to the health of the nation. The UK Government knew what was coming down the track when it triggered Brexit, they were warned by anyone who knew what they were talking about, including British Ministers that it was going to be a disaster. They ignored it all because they fancied the old days when Britannia ruled the waves, owned three quarters of the known world and plundered it all. Sadly, for them, efforts by Trump to break up the EU didn’t work, and the EU operated as a bloc and consequently are now out trading and out-manoeuvring the UK at almost every turn. Trade to most of the UK’s trading partners has plummeted leaving farmers and vegetable growers with no one to pick crops or sell on their produce to while the EU flourishes with Southern Ireland seeing a huge upturn in trade. The UK made their bed, now they must lie in it. Brexit was an exercise in pure ego. The UK had all the power they could ever have wanted in the EU and it was down to pure greed that they wanted more. Force majeure will not save them the embarrassment of knowing everything that has happened was foreseen and they didn’t care…because ‘Rule Britannia’. |
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