Julia Hartley Dooda Schengen Muddle

All good things come to an end, and sadly for self-promoting TalkRADIO host Julia Hartley Brewer, this includes her VERY EXPENSIVE and VERY EXCLUSIVE ski-ing holiday somewhere she doesn’t have to put up with the plebs who will suffer most from Britain leaving the EU, an outcome for which she has so fervently advocated.

We know who you are, thanks

So now she is on her way back to the UK, although what the British people have done to deserve her presence is not known. It must have been bad. No matter, though, there are points to score even on the way home, including telling her faithful followers that she is crossing the border between France an Switzerland. Very expensively.

“Just approaching the border between France and Switzerland … and now I’m in Switzerland. I reckon that took all of 20 seconds. #justsaying”. And the point of this was what, exactly? Both countries are part of the Schengen Zone, so unless she was taking a lorry load of goods across - for which there would be a delay - it’s straight through.

This was duly pointed out to Ms Hartley Dooda, prompting this singularly clueless reply: “And, yes, I know Switzerland is in Schengen. But we aren’t now, and we won’t be after Brexit, so why does anything have to change if the British and EU leaders are sensible and agree that it doesn’t need to?”. Something to do with leaving the EU, perchance?

Also, the arrangements for moving goods across that border are, as I suggested, very different, as they are between, say, Sweden and Norway. So what about the Schengen question? “Yes, but Switzerland isn’t in the EU. They came to a mutually convenient solution with the EU. We can also come to a mutually convenient solution. What about that do you find complicated?” Switzerland is indeed not in the EU. But do go on.

“I want the benefits (for both sides) of a free trade deal. I don’t want free movement. But we already have passport controls at our borders so no need for any longer process … Why on earth would the EU do a free trade deal with Japan? Or Canada? Or attempt to do one with the US?”. Time for Ms Hartley Dooda to face reality here.

Switzerland, to take her example, may not be in the EU, but has adopted significant parts of EU law. It is, like Norway, a rule taker, to adopt the phrase so loved by her Brexiteer heroes in Parliament and elsewhere. Moreover, the speed at which one crosses a border by road, or indeed any other form of transport, is not determined by free trade deals. She wouldn’t cross the border into Japan in 20 seconds.

Once again, we have a Brexit fundamentalist who takes one experience and believes that she then knows all about a subject which is totally different. She’s trilling about free movement but doesn’t want it for the UK. She’s banging on about free trade without having the slightest idea how that works. And when she returns to her TalkRADIO berth, she will still be pretending she knows what she’s talking about. Which she doesn’t.

You might care to say that ...

A little knowledge can be dangerous in the wrong hands. In the hands of Julia Hartley Dooda, no knowledge at all can be positively lethal.

Enjoy your visit to Zelo Street? You can help this truly independent blog carry on talking truth to power, while retaining its sense of humour, by adding to its Just Giving page at

www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/zelostreet2