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Originally Posted by danielf
True. It'll be interesting to see how it pans out. We seem to be digging quite a hole for ourselves.
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We're dealing with what we've been given. We simply can't ignore it. If we risk upsetting Ecuador then so what? This is big boy politics now and they can't pull a stunt like they have done without facing consequences, they can either deal or face the pressure. Ecuador have granted a very unusual request for Asylum and given us a problem. We can't walk away because 'we're digging a hole for ourselves'. We have obeyed by both international and national laws and have done nothing wrong.
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But that isn't the issue. The issue is that when you do have an embassy, then the premises of that embassy are part of the country's territory and therefore inviolable. That is the diplomatic protocol. Britain would be within its rights to kick the Ecuadorian diplomats out of the country and tell them they no longer wish to have diplomatic ties with them (which would create a considerable diplomatic mess), but that isn't what they are suggesting they might do. They are suggesting they can declare that the embassy is no longer an embassy and then go in to nab Assange. That is unheard of in the diplomatic protocol and is likely to raise a few eyebrows around the world, as it means that the UK isn't playing by the diplomatic rules that the rest of the world plays by.
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It would cause a diplomatic problem, which is why we don't want to do it (have said this many times now), but it's an option open to us. We keep it on the table. Ecuador aren't playing by the same rules anyway. I don't buy this apologist scenario where Ecuador can screw us and we have to take it to avoid upsetting them.