…. Has Boris Johnson finally woken up to finish what needs to be done after the Brexit win after the EU Referendum in 2016. While being grilled by the press in India over more potential ‘Partygate’ revelations to come out after he returned to London, Boris has - after many many months - only just come out to reveal progress may be on the horizon over the Northern Ireland Protocol. This has been a consistent issue since the Referendum and Northern Ireland being forced to adhere to most of the EU’s rules and regulations, particularly on trade, the Protocol issue does not command the confidence for a large part of the population of Northern Ireland to balance the Good Friday Agreement.

This needs to be sorted out – and quickly. The European Union is clearly intent on breaking up the United Kingdom, and meanwhile, the constant carping of the President of the United States, Joe Biden’s interference (due to his ‘so-called’ distant Irish roots, is unacceptable – and has unfortunately not helped secure a trade deal with the US so far.

Boris has now admitted he has to address this and “fix” things over Northern Ireland, saying he: “thinks this can be done with some simple action.” He also said he continues to talk with the EU about it – and he confirmed he is not afraid to take further steps if necessary.

Well, Boris, might I suggest you gets on with it – IT’S ABOUT TIME - as this has gone on for far too long, with very little being resolved!

Now over to France and the election to decide who will be the new French President.  The final part of the French Presidential elections will play out today - Sunday, 24 April. The French have already started voting this morning in the second and final stage of the election process on whether the incumbent President - Emmanuel (Jean-Michel Frédéric) Macron - will win a sedond term as President, or if the winner will be the ‘Far-Right’ candidate, Marine le Pen. The purdah period started at midnight on Friday, so no news has come out since then.
 
Some information on the two final candidates for the Presidency:
President Macron was born on 21 December, 1977, and has been President of France since 14 May, 2017. There has been considerable opposition in France over his domestic reforms – particularly over a proposed fuel tax, which culminated in the ‘Yellow Vest’ protests, starting in 2018. Macron led France’s confusing response to the COVID-19 Pandemic and the vaccination rollout. His foreign policies have called for reforms of the European Union – and no doubt if he wins this election, he will effectively take charge of the whole of the EU! Most recently he has joined in the international response to the Russian invasion of Ukraine and has frequently held long phone convThe second final candidate in this Presidential election is Marion Anne Perrine "Marine" Le Pen, who was born on 5 August, 1968. She is a French lawyer and politician. Le Pen is a member of the National Rally – previously known as the National Front - serving as its President from 2011 to 2021. Marine has been a member of the National Assembly for the 11^th constituency of Pas-de-Calais since 2017. She is known as the ‘Far Right’ candidate.
 
Neither of these two Presidential candidates are closely aligned to the United Kingdom, but it is reported that whoever wins will change the face of the European Union.
SO - LET’S SEE WHO WINS AT THE END OF TODAY (SUNDAY) EVENING (or whenever the result is announced).

I think many people over here in the UK really want a change from President Macron, who has done little to assist the United Kingdom since Brexit – although I seem to recall before he became President, he used to talk about how wonderful our country is and how he and his wife, Brigitte Macron, loved to come to London very often! (Brigitte Marie Claude Macron, born 13 April, 1953, is a French schoolteacher and was formerly one of Emmanuel Macron’s teachers at school).

On Russia and Ukraine. This month the European Commission has been forced to close a loophole after the discovery that at least 10 EU Member States have been exporting almost £294 million in equipment - including bombs, rockets, missiles and guns to Vladimir Putin’s regime in Moscow – despite an EU-wide embargo on arms shipments to Russia which was introduced following Russia’s 2014 annexation of Crimea. 78% of these have been supplied by French and German companies! In addition, the EU is currently paying Russia over £840 million every single day for energy supplies – clearly still resisting the EU-ban on buying Russian gas.

As we come to the end of this e-Bulletin, there is good news for travel to Portugal (including Madeira), as Portugal is the first EU country to allow UK visitors to use fast-tracked electronic passport gates since Brexit. This means British holidaymakers will be treated the same as Europeans, and hopefully other popular European destinations will follow. There should be no reason for long delays for Brits entering EU countries following Brexit, as we should be cooperating sensibly on trade and many other issues, as friendly neighbouring countries. Apparently, passport e-gate lanes have been set up for Britons this week in Portugal.

Lastly, may I say I hope you have all had a wonderful St George's Day yesterday – as this 23 April is the feast day of England's Patron Saint - celebrated on 23 April to commemorate the anniversary of his death in 303 AD.

NOTE: You might also like to read my recent article entitled ‘We Must Learn From the EU’s Mistakes on Trade Negotiations: https://www.brexit-watch.org/we-must-learn-from-eus-mistakes-on-trade-negotiations

That’s all for this e-Bulletin. I hope you have a lovely Sunday - unfortunately the weather has not yet settled into Summer – and potential night frosts might damage your gardens!

Best wishes - and keep safe.
Jayne Adye, Campaign Director, Get Britain Out