Bozo Lawbreaking Retreat BEGiNS

Distantly echoing the journey of Napoleon’s Grande Armée as it began the long and humiliating retreat from Moscow, alleged Prime Minister Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson and his pals have started the long and humiliating climbdown which will lead to dilution or even withdrawal of the Polecat Enabling Act, more prosaically titled the Internal Market Bill. This time, it is not the chill of winter, but real world reality.

Bozo and his pals, despite the spin claiming otherwise, had brought forward a bill which would enable them to break international law. The EU told them there would be no deal if they persisted with the charade. Then Speaker Pelosi told them a US-UK trade deal would not pass Congress if the Good Friday accords were endangered by the stunt. And despite Tory MPs backing the bill last Monday, many are worried about it going further.

Last night came a Joint Statement, relayed by Beth Rigby of Sky News: “Following constructive talks over the last few days, the Government has agreed to table an amendment for Committee Stage. This amendment will require the House of Commons to vote for a motion before a minister can use the ‘notwithstanding’ powers contained within the UK Internal Market Bill”. But the powers will still be there in the legislation.

There is much talk of “legal certainty”, and soothing words on the Tory Party “coming together”. But nothing can detract from the sure and certain knowledge not only that this is a climbdown, but that it is not going to be enough. We know this as Bozo’s supposed deputy Dominic Raab has been in Washington, DC to try and reassure Congressional leaders - and has not reassured them. They have made sure he knows it, too.

Democrat Presidential nominee Joe Biden has made plain his stance: “We can’t allow the Good Friday Agreement that brought peace to Northern Ireland to become a casualty of Brexit. Any trade deal between the U.S. and U.K. must be contingent upon respect for the Agreement and preventing the return of a hard border. Period”. And there was more.

Emily Purser Brown, DC bureau chief for Sky News, added “This Biden tweet following a meeting between Pelosi and Raab just now - after which she said ‘if the U.K. violates its international agreements and Brexit undermines the Good Friday accord, there will be absolutely no chance of a U.S.-U.K. trade agreement passing the Congress’”.

And why isn’t Raab persuading anyone? Because he’s coming out with dishonest drivel like “the threat to the Good Friday Agreement comes from the EU's politicisation of the issue” and “what we can't have is the EU seeking to erect a border down the Irish Sea between Northern Ireland and Britain”. The EU is merely following its rules, and a border down the Irish Sea is what the Tories signed up to. And knew they had signed up to.

Even Combover Crybaby Donald Trump’s man, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, merely said “We trust the UK, we know the complexities of the situation, I have great confidence they will get this right”. Not even the faintest shadow of an endorsement.

Boney Johnson’s retreat has only just started. There will be a lot more climbing down and withdrawing lawbreaking bits before he gets back to Paris. By which time he will be bust.

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