Friday, December 25, 2020

Kerbau-ish Boris Johnson lost more than Teresa May in Brexit deal

ABC:

Boris Johnson yields to reality, but Brexit will come back to haunt Britain


Boris Johnson has confirmed a Brexit deal has been reached between the UK and EU (Photo: Reuters).

When Boris Johnson unveiled his transitional Brexit agreement with the European Union a year ago, he proclaimed it was a "great new deal" which "takes back control".

"We hold all the cards!" his minister Michael Gove declared.

Johnson had dislodged his predecessor Theresa May, sledging her pact with Brussels as an "absolute stinker", but it turned out he'd traded away even more.

His deal was forecast to dent UK growth by 6.7 per cent (May's would cost only 2.1), and for all the pugnacious talk of defending the UK's sovereignty, it abandoned Northern Ireland to EU customs rules.

Still, an election victory at his back, Johnson insisted, "we've got an oven-ready deal".

"We've just got to put it in at gas mark four, give it 20 minutes and Bob's your uncle."

Then the year slipped by, and every Brexit negotiating deadline passed with deafening silence.

Until September, when the Prime Minister changed his tune.

Suddenly, the EU's rights under the very deal he agreed were "absurd" and "extreme", and he introduced legislation to quash them, in what his government cheerily admitted was a breach of international law.


It would be "more than satisfactory", he said, promising Britain would "prosper mightily".Just days ago, as the December 31 deadline loomed, Johnson laughed freely at the prospect of crashing out of Europe without any deal at all.

But the UK is in its deepest recession since records began.

And behind the scenes, the Prime Minister was issuing quite different orders to his negotiators. Britain now badly needed a deal.

After a horror year, just think of the great PR victory that lay ahead.

On Christmas eve, his favoured red-top, The Sun, photoshopped him into a Santa suit holding a sack of goodies.

The coup was vintage Boris. For the paper's 3 million odd readers, December 25 was now "Brexmas".

And thus, the deal was unveiled. Gazumping a jointly timed press conference with Brussels, Johnson's staff bragged the agreement delivered "everything that the British public was promised during the 2016 referendum'.

This was a £668 billion bonanza, Johnson cheered.

"We've taken back control of our laws and our destiny!"

"That's the end of Brussels, now for the sprouts."
Fishy promises

But just as Johnson had ceded whatever was necessary to steam his way into Number 10, so, it now seems clear, he's done much of the same to get his trade deal and his tabloid applause.

At the Downing Street lectern he announced "there will be no palisade of tariffs on January 1st and there'll be no non-tariff barriers to trade. Instead, there will be a giant free trade zone."

In fact, the agreement does specifically allow the imposition of tariffs if Britain does not hew closely to Europe's famously tough environmental and labour standards: something Johnson and his Brexiteer boosters have long declared a red line.

European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen made it explicit in her press conference: "The EU rules and standards will be respected and we have effective tools to react if fair competition is distorted and impacts our trade."


The president of European Commission says the Brexit deal is 'fair and balanced' (Photo: Reuters).

London yielded too on the sensitive issue of fishing rights.

European fleets can continue to plunder British waters for another five years.

The legal text is yet to be published, but silence from the Prime Minister also suggests the current customs duties frontier — which splits Northern Ireland from the rest of the UK — will remain in force.

JP Morgan's analysis was that the EU retained "nearly all of the advantages it derives from its trading relationship with the UK" but was now able "to use regulatory structures to cherry pick among the sectors where the UK had previously enjoyed advantages".


Boris Johnson will likely have little trouble passing the Brexit deal through parliament.(Reuters: Liam McBurney)

For now, with the Labour opposition promising to vote it up, Johnson will sail through the minor squalls of detail that will darken the Parliament between now and 2021.

But just wait and watch. The pattern will be repeated here, it can be almost guaranteed.

The Prime Minister will continue to trumpet the breakthrough for as long as it's advantageous to do so.

Then, in the not-too-distant future, when electoral profit beckons, he and his allies will find a way, whatever rhetorical contortions are required, to condemn the EU all the same.


And that's because Europe has for decades been a very handy straw man for many in the establishment, not least Johnson himself, who paved a path to politics with wildly exaggerated newspaper columns pouring scorn on European cooperation.The deal will be reprosecuted — perhaps by Johnson himself — in pursuit of another chance to wave a kipper at those pesky Europeans from up on a stage.

He flicked the switch to Brexit only after some hard Conservative Party calculus, and he rode it all the way into the prime minister's bulletproof Jaguar.

It can be easy to forget that Johnson is made of the same stuff as Donald Trump.

He's urbane and smart, he likes to recite soliloquys in ancient Greek.

But the British Prime Minister is the ultimate weathercock.

He can sniff popular opinion and whirl about on his spindle, and it troubles him not a jot.


24 comments:

  1. Not kerbau but British Bulldog, Brits Rule Forever.....no fear over Brexit, stick up two fingers to Bullyland....

    QUOTE
    U.K. Grants Five Passports a Minute to Hongkongers as China Tightens Grip
    By Shawna Kwan
    December 4, 2020

    Surge of Hong Kong residents getting BNO passport in 2020

    City faces exodus as China clamps down on financial hub

    The U.K. is granting the most special travel documents to Hong Kong residents since the 1997 handover, bolstering predictions of a mass exodus as China tightens its grip over the former British colony.

    Some 216,398 Hong Kong residents received British National (Overseas) passports during the first 10 months of the year, higher than any annual figure stretching back to 1997, according to data provided by the U.K.’s Passport Office under the Freedom of Information Act.
    UNQUOTE

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. 220,000 out of 7.5 million, a mere less than 3%. Good riddance. The majority who remain will be so pleased!

      Delete
    2. Wakakakakaka…

      BNO passport - a doggie tag telling everyone that u r a citizen with no residential & full legal rights of a country!

      Indeed, stick up two fingers to Bullyland....& continuing with yr f*ck serf genuflecting.

      For China, good ridden - to those who r forever grateful to their master who enslaved them.

      Delete
    3. both ccp fan n msia tuan react with similar sentiment when one hear them saying good riddance.

      abang adik.

      Delete
    4. 220k passports approved in the first 10 months of 2020 alone. A total of 2.6 million Hongkongers are eligible for BNO, not counting their dependents born after 1997. And 350k already hold UK passports. So we are talking about nearly 50% of the population.

      They will be able to come to the UK for five years. And after a further year, they will be able to apply for citizenship.

      Under the government's plans, all British Overseas Nationals and their dependants will be given right to remain in the UK, including the right to work and study, for five years. At this point, they will be able to apply for settled status, and after a further year, seek citizenship. These hard working Honkies will be ideal to replace departing EU workers.

      Ayam sure Bully in Beijing will do the usual bullying tactic: trade.

      Delete
    5. 220k passports approved in the first 10 months of 2020 alone. A total of 2.6 million Hongkongers are eligible for BNO, not counting their dependents born after 1997. And 350k already hold UK passports. So we are talking about nearly 50% of the population.

      They will be able to come to the UK for five years. And after a further year, they will be able to apply for citizenship.

      Under the government's plans, all British Overseas Nationals and their dependants will be given right to remain in the UK, including the right to work and study, for five years. At this point, they will be able to apply for settled status, and after a further year, seek citizenship. These hard working Honkies will be ideal to replace departing EU workers.

      Ayam sure Bully in Beijing will do the usual bullying tactic: trade.

      Delete
    6. 犬养mfer, good riddance to the HK 废青,Formosa kayak & ketuanan myrmidon as in yr abang-adik fart!

      Delete
    7. Reality check for those bno mfers.

      1) If you’re already in the UK or HK, you can apply for the Hong Kong BN(O) visa from within the UK/HK when it opens for applications from January 2021.

      Mfer what is the date when yr f*cked 220k passports approved in the first 10 months of 2020 alone?

      Unless they r existing bno holders prior to 97.

      That also meant all yr arithmetic r just gigo!

      2) They will be able to come to the UK for five years?

      Mfer, read this

      https://www.gov.uk/guidance/british-nationals-overseas-in-hong-kong

      To dispute yr c&p katak farts lah.

      BTW, China doesn't recognise dual citizenship & any of the bno issued after 97.

      If there r newly issued bno holders (if there is such category) then it means the holders r claiming non China citizenship. They will automatically lost the residency rights within HK & must leave when their visa expired.

      3) with the covid pandemic raging like wild fire in UK now, how much reserves can these bno holders tahan w/o jobs & losing the current securities & cozy lifestyles they enjoyed in HK?

      All in all, this is just another katak-ised, brainless fart on inconsequential!

      Delete
  2. Malaysia should say big THANK YOU to Brits, got Astra Zeneca Oxford vaccine at cost, $4 per poke, much cheaper than US or Bullyland’s which will come with strings, ball and chain attached.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. British technology is the most cost-effective by far.......even cheaper than Bullyland’s...

      https://www.statista.com/chart/23658/reported-cost-per-dose-of-covid-19-vaccines/

      Delete
    2. Just wait - 3 months after mass injection!

      Do hope u get yrs before that time frame.

      Did statists.com info u that one-third of the ALL US medical professionals refused mRNA derived vaccines?

      Did it further tell u that 50% of that medical anti-vaxxers had NOT trust in those vaccines?

      Truly blurred mfer who rea,c&p BUT never know how to analyse - garbage in garbage out!

      Delete
    3. Wakakakaka...statists.com is what's known as a Zombie website...a site with just a name and zero content... how appropriate that a CCP Zombie quotes statistics.com.

      If anybody does not want to be vaccinated, that is their personal legal right and should be respected.

      What I find highly objectionable is the anti-Vaxxers organised movement whose Agenda is to spread misleading information to downright lies to discourage and frighten other people from getting vaccinated.

      Delete
    4. Old moneyed mfer READ carefully about who quote statists.com!

      Remembered u too quote statists.com!

      Just fart w/o thinking!

      Malu lah!!!!

      Delete
  3. AZO don't use mRNA technology.

    Due to kindness and generosity of Brits to supply at cost, $4 per cucuk, we can immunize 32 million for $250 million, can store in normal peti sejuk, no need -70 deg C, so why Yiddin rush to buy from Pfizer or from Bullyland? Can have so much left over from 3 billion budget. Middleman want to cari-makan maybe?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Know nothing fart!

      The AZD1222 vaccine is a replication-deficient simian adenovirus vector, containing the full‐length codon‐optimized coding sequence of SARS-CoV-2 spike protein along with a tissue plasminogen activator (tPA) leader sequence.

      Messenger RNA (mRNA) derived vaccine use the carrier genetic information of the spike protein copied from SARS-CoV2 DNA.

      Both work on the attachment functionality of the SAME spike protein of SARS-CoV2.

      NOT the full SARS-CoV2 DNA!

      By creating the spike protein within a carrier virus, the vaccine induces the body immune system to recognize the SARS-CoV2 & produce the fighting T-cells to exterminate the virus.

      The current fast spreading new covid strain spreading in UK has proven that the basic structure of that spike protein has mutated into a more efficient form for attachment to mucous cells.

      Thus the imitated spike protein copied from the earlier strain of SARS-CoV2 might not work as the new strain has a new mutated spike protein!

      The spike protein initiative might not work.

      Besides, the unknown side effects due to speedy approval.

      Delete
    2. Only CCP is using the actual live virus Vaccine.
      If they are not absolutely tip-top with their quality and process control, a small number of people may actually get Covid-19 from vaccinations.

      Delete
    3. If Bully simply use live virus as vaccine why charge so much per cucuk compared to AZO...? No research required, just put the live virus in the microwave then find 40,000 volunteers; sounds like bully TIPU to me...next will come the Ball-and-Chain RAMPAS...

      Delete
    4. Wakakakakakaka…

      Life virus vaccine!

      If such vaccine does exist, why call it vaccine? Just let the virus carry on with the fated herd immunity lah.

      Know-nothing katak cloaking for a reversed medical miracle.

      U guys must have shared the same script writer as trump for that clorox injection to cure covid!

      Bravo!!!

      Maybe someone should tell u, mfers, about it's better to keep yr mouth shut then shout loudly to let the world knows about yr stupidity!

      Delete
    5. Dungu...if you want to talk about a subject, make sure you understand the lingo of the people who work on the field.

      A Live Virus Vaccine is one where the manufacturer breeds live viruses to make the vaccine.

      Sinovac the case using monkey kidney cells.
      Further down the manufacturing line, Sinovac then adds a chemical beta-propiolactone to deactivate the virus but still able to trigger an immune reaction when injected into the human body.

      A chemical strong enough to deactivate the virus without destroying it is pretty nasty stuff, beta-propiolactone is nasty.

      Known carcinogen, damage kidney...etc.

      This is where the China approach hits two major risks...

      If they are not 100% perfect in their quality and process control, some of the "deactivated virus" will be perfectly active infectious escapees. Tragically happened in a few CCP vaccine in the last decade.

      As for beta-propiolactone, they say the level in the final vaccinated fluid os very low, but again, if the make a manufacturing error, you will be injected with carcinogen.


      Delete
    6. i dun know how vaccine work but i know most mainlanders dun believe in china made vaccine, similar to hp, mulut cakap tak nak but if given choice, sure pick iphone over no google mating brand. thats y buy so much pzifer made.

      Delete
    7. So u did a hp6 c&p to prove yr know-nothingness, AGAIN!

      Live Virus Vaccine is a commoner misnomer for vaccine made from a virus that has been weakened/deactivated so it does not cause the disease the virus usually causes.

      Virus scientifically isn't alive. A virus is a submicroscopic INFECTIOUS AGENT (ie reactive chemical compound) that replicates only inside the living cells of an organism.

      A weaken/deactivated virus vaccine helps the body’s immune system recognize and fight infections caused by the active form of the virus.

      There r many successful vaccines designed/cultured in this WELL-KNOWN technologies. Examples: the chickenpox vaccine and the measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR) vaccine.

      Of course, QA&QC r the most vigorous requirements in these vaccine manufacturing.

      All things said, there r still MANY unknown body reactions to ANY foreign reagents coming inside the body/cells. Thus the long & tedious checking & counterchecking medical trials with large number of volunteers to ensure safety application within a tolerated margin of medical complications!

      BTW, to weaken/deactivate a live virus a potent chemical agent is used. Typically a chemical agent strong enough to deactivate the virus without destroying it is pretty nasty stuff - ie beta-propiolactone. However, once that agent reacts with the virus chemistry, in most cases the toxicity of the chemical agent disappeared. Liken to chlorine is a lethal gas to human. But once reacts with sodium, the resulted sodium chloride (common table salt) is harmless to human body (unless through humongous overdose for f*cked katak).

      Old moneyed mfer, do yr bloody researched PROPERLY lah. Don't just c&p with knowledge u know little about & try to twist!

      U r WAY WAY out of this league with yr well dwelled katak-ised awareness!

      Truly malu & bodoh-sombong yet cloaking to the world to show them off!

      Delete
    8. "i know most mainlanders dun believe in china made vaccine"

      Another regurgitated katak lie!

      犬养mfer, there r a lot more that u don't know! But u definitely know how to manufacture inconsequential fart to syiok yrself.

      Delete
  4. https://www.xda-developers.com/harmony-os-2-0-initial-version-based-on-android/

    copy paste somemore lazy to change interface, likewise when copy cisco, manual pun 100% sama.

    but curi rebrand copy paste whatever one call it still safer than china made, if vaccine that we r talking abt.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Wakakakakakaka…

      https://www.xda-developers.com!!!

      What kind of developer?

      U might as well say Android is based on unix.

      Or for that matter window too!

      "curi rebrand copy paste whatever one call it" r still katak-ised fart of know-nothing!

      Delete