Tldr: Man who came up with the rules complaining to friends when they get applied.
>James Crisp (@JamesCrisp6)
>
>Frost on Ireland. He says that over last 5 years “Ireland has chosen to throw his weight behind EU interests and prioritise protecting single market instead of working collaboratively with us to find solutions that can work in Northern Ireland.”
>
>He says understandable why Ireland did this (to maintain place in SM).
“I hope Ireland feels it got good value from the EU for acting like this. It doesn’t look 100% clear to me that it always does and certainly its negotiating capsule on this subject seems close to exhausted.”
>
>He says UK should “continue to try to work constructively with Ireland bilaterally.”
>
>“I would like to see Ireland act in the same spirit, not disrupting the balance in Northern Ireland by constantly using vague and destabilising language about tectonic shifts in the north.”
>
>Frost says he shouldn’t offer Ireland advice on its affairs but gives himself permission to do so as Irish commentators often do. He namechecks @BobbyMcDonagh1 for an “egregious” “quite disgraceful” article. Which is here.
>
>>>[Bobby McDonagh: UK reneging on protocol would further unsettle the North](https://www.irishtimes.com/opinion/bobby-mcdonagh-uk-reneging-on-protocol-would-further-unsettle-the-north-1.4860659)
>>>
>>>Move flagged by Downing Street would challenge western unity on Putin’s outrages
>
>Pretty sure that will calm down any tensions with Dublin.
ENDS
>
>[Apr 27, 2022](https://nitter.net/JamesCrisp6/status/1519291059230158848#m)
A thread on a remarkable speech by @DavidGHFrost in which he admits he blinked in the negotiations & that the PM misled people about the deal, seems oblivious to the damage it has done and has the nerve to portray himself as a Unionist despite risking it to get Brexit done 1/n
>
>>>David Frost (@DavidGHFrost)
>>>
>>>1 I spoke at Policy Exchange @Policy_Exchange today on the history & the future of the Northern Ireland Protocol. Thanks to @ArleneFosterUK for joining me.
>>>
>>>Text below.
>>>
>>>[policyexchange.org.uk/pxeven…](https://policyexchange.org.uk/pxevents/the-northern-ireland-protocol-how-we-got-here-and-what-should-happen-now-keynote-speech-by-rt-hon-lord-frost-of-allenton-cmg/)
>>>
>>>[Apr 27 – Show this thread](https://nitter.net/DavidGHFrost/status/1519358622417006594#m)
>
>He starts by noting that “much recent debate about Brexit is really about the pros and cons of the Protocol..that reflects the relative lack of other things to talk about” 2/n
>
>He seems to have missed the damage to UK/EU trade particularly among small businesses, the lorry stack on the M20 and the government’s refusal to implement checks at the border – putting our businesses at a disadvantage – because they know the harm such checks will do 3/n
>
>Next he complains about people accusing him “of either not understanding the implications of the Protocol or of signing it without intending to observe it” 4/n
>
>For the record, I agree that he knew what he was doing, but he is lying when he says he intended to observe it – he always intended to partially unravel it and he admits as much later in the speech 5/n
>
>Next he claims that “a substantial proportion of the political class, in all parties, wanted to find a way of reversing the referendum result” 6/n
>
>That is true in relation to opposition parties, but only a handful of Conservative MPs took that view – and several of them had left the party by the time Boris Johnson became prime minister 7/n
>
>Then we are told that “we always knew that [the Withdrawal Agreement] would require some special arrangements covering Northern Ireland” 8/n
>
>But this isn’t what Boris Johnson told the Conservative Party when he was campaigning to replace Theresa May – he said he would get rid of the Northern Ireland Protocol 9/n
>
>Roll forward a few months to the autumn of 2019 when the Johnson government suggests an alternative Protocol. @DavidGHFrost says “we recognised [our policy] would entail some processes in the Irish Sea but we believed that most could be done behind the border” 10/n
>
>Again, this isn’t what Boris Johnson was telling people at the time. There would be no checks, people should come and see him if they were asked to fill in any forms etc 11/n
>
>Now we come to the crunch point in the negotiations: “We faced a choice – take this deal and sort out the detail in 2020 or fail to deliver Brexit on 31 October. We decided the lesser risk was to push the deal through and trust we could sort out the detail with the EU later” 12/n
>
>This is revealing. It is precisely what he has accused the May team of doing: blinking under the pressure to agree something given the political consequences of failing to deliver Brexit 13/n
>
>He goes on “people say that we could have reopened this deal after winning the election. I think they are kidding themselves. We won the election with an oven ready deal that got Brexit done” 14/n
>
>Fwiw I agree. But what they could have done is been honest before the election – the deal had consequences for Northern Ireland, they hoped to improve it down the line, if they couldn’t we might still leave with no deal but they needed a bigger majority to break the impasse 15/n
>
>But that would have made it harder to win an election. So they told people it was a great deal and oven ready 16/n
>
>He then complains that some unionists have accused the government of “showing no regard to the interests of Northern Ireland in agreeing the Protocol”
>
>But this is exactly what happened – this government prioritised getting Brexit done over the integrity of the Union. The May government spent months persuading the EU to drop the idea of a border down the Irish Sea and then the Johnson government gave in to it 18/n
>
>He tells us “the PM has had to go through agonies over some of the tough decisions he has had to take” 19/n
>
>I can believe that – it’s a tough job. But in all my dealings with him as Foreign Secretary and then a backbencher he didn’t agonise for a moment over Northern Ireland – he was utterly dismissive of the idea that its unique circumstances should influence the nature of Brexit 20/n
>
>Then we move to the current day. He observes that “the UK and the EU and its member states are working together closely in Ukraine behind common objectives” 21/n
>
>Indeed they are – it’s heartening and hopefully a model for cooperation on other common threats. And yet he and if recent reports are true the government now want to fracture that unity by unilaterally overturning parts of the Protocol. This is a bad policy at the worst time 22/n
>
>He ends by claiming “the Protocol is not a permanent feature of our relationship – it is explicitly temporary” 23/n
>
>But this isn’t true. The Theresa May backstop might never have come into effect, but this version of the Protocol will stay in effect forever unless the Northern Ireland Assembly withdraws consent (which at the moment seems unlikely) 24/n
>
>One final point: yes, the EU deserves criticism for pushing an east-west border but @DavidGHFrost and the government he served signed up to it. They share responsibility for the damage it has done to the peace process 25/25
>
>[Apr 28, 2022](https://nitter.net/GavinBarwell/status/1519584942468042752#m)
–
Frosty replies
>David Frost (@DavidGHFrost)
>
>1 Gavin @GavinBarwell, at a time when everyone is concerned about the quality of our political debate, I am surprised that one parliamentarian should accuse another in the same party of lying, as you do in 5/n. I hope that on reflection you’ll think again about that.
>
>2 We both faced very difficult tasks. But in the end the facts are that your deal didn’t get through Parliament & nearly destroyed the Tory party in the country with a 9% vote in a national election. Ours delivered the biggest majority for 30 years. Results still matter.
>
>3 I don’t think your thread is an entirely fair summary of my speech or of events. However, the full text of that speech is available here policyexchange.org.uk/pxeven…, I rest my case, and I am happy for my readers to reach their own conclusions and to debate them
>
>[Apr 28, 2022](https://nitter.net/DavidGHFrost/status/1519666228448698372#m)
3 comments
Tldr: Man who came up with the rules complaining to friends when they get applied.
>James Crisp (@JamesCrisp6)
>
>Frost on Ireland. He says that over last 5 years “Ireland has chosen to throw his weight behind EU interests and prioritise protecting single market instead of working collaboratively with us to find solutions that can work in Northern Ireland.”
>
>He says understandable why Ireland did this (to maintain place in SM).
“I hope Ireland feels it got good value from the EU for acting like this. It doesn’t look 100% clear to me that it always does and certainly its negotiating capsule on this subject seems close to exhausted.”
>
>He says UK should “continue to try to work constructively with Ireland bilaterally.”
>
>“I would like to see Ireland act in the same spirit, not disrupting the balance in Northern Ireland by constantly using vague and destabilising language about tectonic shifts in the north.”
>
>Frost says he shouldn’t offer Ireland advice on its affairs but gives himself permission to do so as Irish commentators often do. He namechecks @BobbyMcDonagh1 for an “egregious” “quite disgraceful” article. Which is here.
>
>>>[Bobby McDonagh: UK reneging on protocol would further unsettle the North](https://www.irishtimes.com/opinion/bobby-mcdonagh-uk-reneging-on-protocol-would-further-unsettle-the-north-1.4860659)
>>>
>>>Move flagged by Downing Street would challenge western unity on Putin’s outrages
>
>Pretty sure that will calm down any tensions with Dublin.
ENDS
>
>[Apr 27, 2022](https://nitter.net/JamesCrisp6/status/1519291059230158848#m)
–
Transcript of Frost’s speech
>[The Northern Ireland Protocol: how we got here, and what should happen now?](https://policyexchange.org.uk/pxevents/the-northern-ireland-protocol-how-we-got-here-and-what-should-happen-now-keynote-speech-by-rt-hon-lord-frost-of-allenton-cmg/)
>
>by
>
>Rt Hon Lord Frost of Allenton CMG
>
>Senior Fellow, Policy Exchange
>
>Former Chief Negotiator for Exiting the European Union
>
>Wednesday, 27 April, 2022
Gavin Barwell (@GavinBarwell)
A thread on a remarkable speech by @DavidGHFrost in which he admits he blinked in the negotiations & that the PM misled people about the deal, seems oblivious to the damage it has done and has the nerve to portray himself as a Unionist despite risking it to get Brexit done 1/n
>
>>>David Frost (@DavidGHFrost)
>>>
>>>1 I spoke at Policy Exchange @Policy_Exchange today on the history & the future of the Northern Ireland Protocol. Thanks to @ArleneFosterUK for joining me.
>>>
>>>Text below.
>>>
>>>[policyexchange.org.uk/pxeven…](https://policyexchange.org.uk/pxevents/the-northern-ireland-protocol-how-we-got-here-and-what-should-happen-now-keynote-speech-by-rt-hon-lord-frost-of-allenton-cmg/)
>>>
>>>[Apr 27 – Show this thread](https://nitter.net/DavidGHFrost/status/1519358622417006594#m)
>
>He starts by noting that “much recent debate about Brexit is really about the pros and cons of the Protocol..that reflects the relative lack of other things to talk about” 2/n
>
>He seems to have missed the damage to UK/EU trade particularly among small businesses, the lorry stack on the M20 and the government’s refusal to implement checks at the border – putting our businesses at a disadvantage – because they know the harm such checks will do 3/n
>
>Next he complains about people accusing him “of either not understanding the implications of the Protocol or of signing it without intending to observe it” 4/n
>
>For the record, I agree that he knew what he was doing, but he is lying when he says he intended to observe it – he always intended to partially unravel it and he admits as much later in the speech 5/n
>
>Next he claims that “a substantial proportion of the political class, in all parties, wanted to find a way of reversing the referendum result” 6/n
>
>That is true in relation to opposition parties, but only a handful of Conservative MPs took that view – and several of them had left the party by the time Boris Johnson became prime minister 7/n
>
>Then we are told that “we always knew that [the Withdrawal Agreement] would require some special arrangements covering Northern Ireland” 8/n
>
>But this isn’t what Boris Johnson told the Conservative Party when he was campaigning to replace Theresa May – he said he would get rid of the Northern Ireland Protocol 9/n
>
>Roll forward a few months to the autumn of 2019 when the Johnson government suggests an alternative Protocol. @DavidGHFrost says “we recognised [our policy] would entail some processes in the Irish Sea but we believed that most could be done behind the border” 10/n
>
>Again, this isn’t what Boris Johnson was telling people at the time. There would be no checks, people should come and see him if they were asked to fill in any forms etc 11/n
>
>Now we come to the crunch point in the negotiations: “We faced a choice – take this deal and sort out the detail in 2020 or fail to deliver Brexit on 31 October. We decided the lesser risk was to push the deal through and trust we could sort out the detail with the EU later” 12/n
>
>This is revealing. It is precisely what he has accused the May team of doing: blinking under the pressure to agree something given the political consequences of failing to deliver Brexit 13/n
>
>He goes on “people say that we could have reopened this deal after winning the election. I think they are kidding themselves. We won the election with an oven ready deal that got Brexit done” 14/n
>
>Fwiw I agree. But what they could have done is been honest before the election – the deal had consequences for Northern Ireland, they hoped to improve it down the line, if they couldn’t we might still leave with no deal but they needed a bigger majority to break the impasse 15/n
>
>But that would have made it harder to win an election. So they told people it was a great deal and oven ready 16/n
>
>He then complains that some unionists have accused the government of “showing no regard to the interests of Northern Ireland in agreeing the Protocol”
>
>But this is exactly what happened – this government prioritised getting Brexit done over the integrity of the Union. The May government spent months persuading the EU to drop the idea of a border down the Irish Sea and then the Johnson government gave in to it 18/n
>
>He tells us “the PM has had to go through agonies over some of the tough decisions he has had to take” 19/n
>
>I can believe that – it’s a tough job. But in all my dealings with him as Foreign Secretary and then a backbencher he didn’t agonise for a moment over Northern Ireland – he was utterly dismissive of the idea that its unique circumstances should influence the nature of Brexit 20/n
>
>Then we move to the current day. He observes that “the UK and the EU and its member states are working together closely in Ukraine behind common objectives” 21/n
>
>Indeed they are – it’s heartening and hopefully a model for cooperation on other common threats. And yet he and if recent reports are true the government now want to fracture that unity by unilaterally overturning parts of the Protocol. This is a bad policy at the worst time 22/n
>
>He ends by claiming “the Protocol is not a permanent feature of our relationship – it is explicitly temporary” 23/n
>
>But this isn’t true. The Theresa May backstop might never have come into effect, but this version of the Protocol will stay in effect forever unless the Northern Ireland Assembly withdraws consent (which at the moment seems unlikely) 24/n
>
>One final point: yes, the EU deserves criticism for pushing an east-west border but @DavidGHFrost and the government he served signed up to it. They share responsibility for the damage it has done to the peace process 25/25
>
>[Apr 28, 2022](https://nitter.net/GavinBarwell/status/1519584942468042752#m)
–
Frosty replies
>David Frost (@DavidGHFrost)
>
>1 Gavin @GavinBarwell, at a time when everyone is concerned about the quality of our political debate, I am surprised that one parliamentarian should accuse another in the same party of lying, as you do in 5/n. I hope that on reflection you’ll think again about that.
>
>2 We both faced very difficult tasks. But in the end the facts are that your deal didn’t get through Parliament & nearly destroyed the Tory party in the country with a 9% vote in a national election. Ours delivered the biggest majority for 30 years. Results still matter.
>
>3 I don’t think your thread is an entirely fair summary of my speech or of events. However, the full text of that speech is available here policyexchange.org.uk/pxeven…, I rest my case, and I am happy for my readers to reach their own conclusions and to debate them
>
>[Apr 28, 2022](https://nitter.net/DavidGHFrost/status/1519666228448698372#m)
edit: formatting