Lessons of Lord Frost’s successes & failures must be learned if British interests are to prevail
Montage © Facts4EU.Org 2021
Both Truss and Heaton-Harris start with a fair wind behind them
Part Two of a Facts4EU.Org editorial
(Read Part One here)
Lord Frost’s departure as Minister in charge of Brexit negotiations has caused genuine alarm among those wishing to see the Northern Ireland Protocol reformed or revoked, not because he got everything right and is irreplaceable (he didn’t, and he isn’t), but because his speeches revealed a careful and incisive analysis that identified the fundamental problems requiring correction.
Frost has shown that being a politician in command of his brief can bring respect and a reputation for being in charge.
It was this all too rare occurrence in British politics – having a minister who actually understands an issue in detail and has the courage and self-belief to stand firm, knowing right can prevail – that ignited a fear that whoever took over from him might not demonstrate such a gift and that consequently the lessons of Frost’s successes and failures would not be learned, that the progress made would be squandered, and that compromise if not capitulation would follow.
Two cheers for the new team
The appointment of the Foreign Secretary, Liz Truss, and the new Europe Minister, Chris Heaton-Harris MP, to take over Frost’s brief has received two cheers from Brexit supporters. A third cheer is, in a sense, being held back because doubts that the Government is genuine about reforming or repealing the Protocol are now stronger than when Frost held the brief.
To review the prospects readers must firstly remind themselves that David Frost had been a Remainer in the lead up to the referendum. Following the vote, when he was chief Executive of the Scotch Whisky Association, Frost commenced lobbying to make Brexit work for the whisky industry by backing new trade deals that might reduce the high tariffs in countries like India that the EU had shown no interest in reducing. He then became an advisor to Boris Johnson on his appointment as Foreign Secretary.
We therefore have to give Liz Truss the benefit of the doubt that while she backed Remain during the referendum she also moved quickly to respect the democratic vote and recognise the opportunities that Brexit could bring. Truss has undoubtedly been on a political journey, starting out as a Liberal Democrat with a republican leaning at university before she joined the Conservatives following graduation. She didn’t stop there but continued her route march to become the party’s leading advocate of global free trade.
Liz Truss Twitter account Jun 2016 – 12 days before the EU referendum
This author can only wish far more of those in the Conservative Party, in most cases for all their lives, had so warmly embraced the cause of Britain’s future lying with open markets that reward the creativity, hard work and ambition of our people to succeed.
Observations
If there is a worry about the appointment of Liz Truss it is not that she lacks the guile and ambition for the task but that she is in the Foreign Office, an institution where seeing the European Union’s point of view and believing it has greater moral authority than Britain’s has so often prevailed over our own interests. The behaviour of many former British ambassadors provides further examples to give us cause to worry. The recent briefing undermining Lord Frost’s position on removing the adjudication of the ECJ from the Protocol is another warning of institutional resistance.
Some commentators have averred that Truss might be seduced by the flattery and acclaim that will come from our media hacks, not least the BBC, as well as foreign politicians in Brussels, Dublin and Washington from being on the international stage. I rather doubt it. Her courage and experience in holding out against manufactured public ridicule for winning better access to Japanese markets for British Stilton cheese in the recent trade agreement should show her that her stock rises with an electorate looking for politicians that say what they will do and then, God forbid, do what they say.
Lessons from recent experience
If Truss is to have a great political future she must show the guile to be careful about expressing what she believes is possible and then go on at least to meet her public aspirations if not exceed them.
It is in this realm that Lord Frost had his greatest difficulty. On too many occasions in its dealings with the EU over the last two years the UK Government has set deadlines upon which it would either withdraw from negotiations or threaten to invoke Article 16 of the Protocol. Likewise grace periods of lighter application of regulations have been repeatedly extended – a move that only serves to benefit the trade substitution of GB goods in Northern Ireland by imports from the southern Republic.
It may be that Lord Frost did not have the political backing of Downing Street or enough Tory MPs to invoke Article 16, we may not know the answer to that for many years. Whatever the truth we now require Liz Truss to ensure deadlines are only set that can and will be met.
The lesson of Sir Jeffrey Donaldson MP, leader of the DUP, who has made similar threats to withdraw political co-operation in Northern Irish institutions – only then to extend his own deadlines – shows the politicians are too keen to grab a headline without thinking through the consequences.
The danger of false threats
Were Truss to replicate this recent tendency to extend deadlines then the game would be up. The EU would know the UK Government is not serious and would undoubtedly double down, looking for concessions rather than giving any itself.
Conversely, what Frost also showed was that by taking a strong position, laying out the case in speeches and in a Command paper – and then holding the line – would bring the EU to heel. Sefcovic said the EU would not re-negotiate, well who’s re-negotiating now?
The reassurance by Truss yesterday that invoking Article 16 remains very much a live option and that the ECJ position has not weakened is an encouraging start.
Heaton-Harris cannot rest on his laurels
In regard to Chris Heaton-Harris I suggest that just as Liz Truss’s past ‘remainer’ disposition deserves to be set aside, then so too does the Europe Minister’s identity as a leaver.
Being dubbed as being part of the ‘H Block’ along with Roger Helmer and Daniel Hannan as one of only three Conservative MEPs who were genuine Eurosceptics while in Brussels and Strasbourg does not give him the right to unalloyed reverence or support now. Nor does his period as Chairman of the European Research Group (2010-16). The sorry fact is he voted on the side of Theresa May in all three meaningful votes, backstop included, and therefore has just as much to prove – no more, no less – as Liz Truss.
A centre forward is only as good as his next goal. Heaton-Harris , a qualified football referee, has to prove himself all over again. He too must resist the pats on the back and the warm adulation that will come his way from those that wish our country ill – be it at home or abroad. He too must recognise that standing up for British interests is what will win him the thanks of his ain folk.
For both Truss and Heaton-Harris, they must be prepared to put the UK’s long-term interests before their short-term comforts or the electoral fortunes of their party. They must also recognise the majority of people in Northern Ireland want to remain British and that to leave the Protocol in place without substantial reform will be to demonstrate the Conservative Party has no right to call itself unionist.
We can only wish both Liz Truss and Chris Heaton-Harris well and urge them to prove the doubters wrong – just as Lord Frost did.
Brian Monteith
Managing Editor
For the Facts4EU team
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