DAVID Frost, the chief Brexit negotiator for the UK, has come under fire for congratulating his former team on receiving honours in the New Year list for doing a "brilliant job".
After becoming a Baron and joining the House of Lords in 2020, Frost was appointed as the Cabinet minister responsible for dealing with the aftermath of the Brexit agreement he and his team agreed with the EU.
After just over nine months as Brexit minister, Frost resigned in December stating that he had "concerns about the current direction of travel" of the Tory government.
Frost had overall responsibility for the UK's part in the withdrawal agreement with the EU and the free trade agreement signed during the transition phase in 2020.
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The Tory lord had been locked in post-Brexit negotiations surrounding the Northern Ireland Protocol of the Brexit deal, which aims to avoid a hard border on the island of Ireland. Talks continued throughout 2021 and a full resolution is still yet to be agreed upon despite Frost's declaration in his resignation letter that "Brexit is now secure".
Foreign Secretary Liz Truss has taken over his role as the chief negotiator for the UK Government's "Task Force Europe".
After news of the New Year's Honours List broke on January 1, Frost tweeted: "Huge congratulations to everyone from the British negotiating team from 2020 who received an honour this New Year.
"I'm very glad to see proper recognition for those who worked so hard and did such a brilliant job for our country. They really deserve it."
Huge congratulations to everyone from the British negotiating team from 2020 who received an honour this New Year.
— David Frost (@DavidGHFrost) January 1, 2022
I'm very glad to see proper recognition for those who worked so hard and did such a brilliant job for our country. They really deserve it.
With analysis showing that exports to the EU of food and drink alone had dropped by billions of pounds after the UK's exit, it's hard to quantify why Forst felt it correct that his team did a "brilliant job" for the country.
As further rules have come in that mean UK firms importing goods from the EU will have to make customs declarations and pay tariffs immediately, a florist highlighted the scale of the checks now needed.
The florist, identifying as Amanda, said that every stem of flowers "needs a plant passport and photo sanitary certificate to enter the UK" and asked Frost how he can be proud of the massive amount of paperwork businesses now need to go through.
The London-based florist, who amassed more likes and retweets on her post than Frost's original tweet, added: "It’s like you want small businesses and the self employed to fold. The increased costs (to cover the additional unnecessary paperwork) and reduced deliveries to the UK will mean many small flowershops and stalls will close."
It’s like you want small businesses and the self employed to fold. The increased costs (to cover the additional unnecessary paperwork) and reduced deliveries to the UK will mean many small flowershops and stalls will close.
— Amanda (@flirty4flowers) January 1, 2022
In reply to another Twitter user, Amanda estimated that after further checks on plants were introduced last year, prices rose by around 20% and that deliveries reduced to twice per week. She added: "If the same happens with flowers it will be a disaster as flowers are perishable so we need deliveries everyday."
Former footballer and vocal critic of the Tory government, Gary Neville simply replied to Frost: "Taking the piss to the end!"
One Sarah Pegg, who calls herself an English Scot, tweeted: "Great parody account. I nearly fell for it, but quickly realized that no sane person would write such gibberish. Oh, wait ... !!!"
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Pro-EU activist Femi Oluwole shared an in-depth video he made talking about the promises made by Johnson about Brexit at the end of 2020 compared to what has happened since.
He also highlighted that the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR), the body providing independent analysis of the UK's public finances, said the Brexit deal will be "twice as damaging" as Covid has been for the UK economy.
You negotiated a deal that made UK-EU trade drop by 68% last year, has forced farmers to burn over 20,000 pigs due to worker shortages and which the @OBR_UK says will be twice as damaging to the UK economy as the GODDAMN PANDEMIC...
— Femi (@Femi_Sorry) January 1, 2022
And you're celebrating?pic.twitter.com/hY7Pa3OdKP
In a reference that many Scots may not fully grasp, former LibDem leader Tim Farron said: "I haven’t checked the honours list. But if these characters really have got gongs, then there’s genuine hope for the lads in the England test cricket team having done such a brilliant job for their country in Australia…"
England was soundly beaten in every match of the most recent Ashes, a test cricket series held between the two countries.
One of the more diplomatic replies saw EU law specialist George Peretz QC defend the civil servants who received the honours.
You can believe (I do) both that the civil servants did a great job and that the deal that was negotiated with the EU is damaging to the U.K. and entirely dysfunctional. The fault lies in the instructions given to them by Johnson and Frost, not their competence. https://t.co/U28c2dFrMl
— George Peretz QC (@GeorgePeretzQC) January 1, 2022
He tweeted: "You can believe (I do) both that the civil servants did a great job and that the deal that was negotiated with the EU is damaging to the U.K. and entirely dysfunctional. The fault lies in the instructions given to them by Johnson and Frost, not their competence."
And finally, an example of the ludicrous amount of UK custom regulations that EU companies must now follow in order to export to the UK.
How is this a brilliant job? EU suppliers will just stop exporting to the UK .What extra shortages do you think this will cause first after today? I’m going fruit and veg https://t.co/Yo8cMih921
— moi 🏴🇪🇺 (@letshavealook21) January 1, 2022
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