Important to remember that the UK govt and the DUP are not motivated by protecting the GFA or obtaining cross-community consent.

Important to remember that the UK govt is not motivated by protecting the GFA or obtaining cross-community consent. If it were, it wouldn’t have pursued Brexit (and then hard Brexit), neither of which had such consent. Indeed, attacking the Protocol itself lacks such consent. /1

The UK govt is attacking the Protocol because it places some constraints on the extent to which GB can diverge from EU standards without causing further friction in GB-NI trade. It therefore prevents elements of a full-scale deregulatory regime in GB. /2

Boris Johnson: Held secret talks with the DUP leader Jeffrey Donaldson to iron out any bumps the DUP might not consent to in the Internal Markets Bill before it was announced to the House of Commons. 

The UK govt is also attacking the Protocol, because the fact NI is outperforming GB economically is becoming an embarrassing fact for Brexiteers. /3

The UK govt is also attacking the NI Protocol, because although it is not really politically salient to voters in GB, it is to a certain cohort of Conservative Party members, whose support may be crucial in any leadership contest. /4

The UK govt is also attacking the NI Protocol, because it creates a media frenzy and gets all the serious people talking about it for the next week or so, at a time the govt and its PM in particular could do with the discourse moving on. /5

So, NI, its people and economy, business people, the GFA, the UK’s reputation internationally, even the UK’s economy if this leads to a trade war, the DUP, Ireland, etc etc are all just pawns in a Conservative Party game. /6

Ironically, with such misgovernment, it also makes the unionist position in NI more and more difficult to argue. Johnson’s govt and the DUP are ultimately acting against the interests of anyone seeking to protect the union. /END

With many thanks to: John Cotter for the original thread on Twitter . 

Follow this link to read the original thread: John Cotter and follow these links to find out more on this story: Prime Minister Boris Johnson holds secret NI Protocol talks to appease the DUP and backbench Brexiteers

UK Protocol Bill: Conflict with the EU inevitable