The Irish Question -- Still

18 April 2018

 

Cogito Ergo Non Serviam

No Brexit Deal Without Irish Border Solution

 

Donald Tusk, the President of the European Council, has said that there can be no deal with Britain about trade after it leaves the EU unless there is a soluion to the problem Brexit creates at the Irish border with Northern Ireland. His actual words were, "The UK's decision on Brexit has caused the problem and the UK will have to solve it. Without a solution there will be no withdrawal agreement and no transition." It is hard to see how this gets resolved.

At its core, the issue is just how to deal with Ireland having one set of economic rules inside the EU and Northern Ireland having another set outside the EU. There are a few different approaches, but each is fatally flawed.

The first would be to let Ulster operate under EU rules. It would, by definition, operate as Ireland does, obviating the need for a hard border. However, products leaving Ulster for the rest of the UK would have to be checked somehow. In short, the border would lie in the Irish Sea. That in itself is not a problem but the Democratic Unionist Party, which is keeping Theresa May's minority Conservative Party in office, opposes anything that treats Northern Ireland differently from the rest of the UK. Never mind that the people of Ulster voted to stay in the EU, and pay no attention to the extra money Ulster has received from the Tory government, funds the rest of the UK won't get.

Another option is to put up a border complete with checkpoints and other methods of control between the Irish Republic and Ulster. However, it was the border that caused most of the trouble between the Catholics and the Protestants in the last century. Products and labor moves across the border now without hindrance. That can't be true in future if this option is chosen. Both sides lose financially.

A third option is deploying technology to make the border a simple one to cross. While it is possible, the solution is needed in less than a year. Finding the technology, paying for it, putting it in place and debugging it is probably going to take years, not months. There just isn't enough time.

Naturally, the threat Mr. Tusk has made is likely just a negotiating ploy. One doesn't believe that Brexit without trading deal between the UK and EU is in anyone's interests. As this journal has pointed out before, Britain stands to lose more than the EU if there is no deal, but the EU will lose out all the same.

Ultimately, someone is going to have to bend. If the DUP were not keeping a minority government in office, the solution would be to keep Ulster in the single market as a special economic zone. In fact, that would probably be best for Ulster anyway, whether the UK were leaving or not. And again, the people of Ulster, in the referendum, voted to Remain.

If the Unionists won't bend, then Theresa May will have to shift her position. It is impossible to say what moves she could make that would maintain a majority in Commons for an acceptable number of weeks. However, she needs to jettison the DUP and replace their votes from some other source.

This government and this House of Commons seem to be unable to find a way forward. Bold action is needed, and general election would be a bold move.

© Copyright 2018 by The Kensington Review, Jeff Myhre, PhD, Editor. No part of this publication may be reproduced without written consent. Produced using Ubuntu Linux.

Kensington Review Home

 

Google

Follow KensingtonReview on Twitter






















 
 
Wholesale NFL Jerseys Wholesale NFL Jerseys Wholesale NFL Jerseys Wholesale NFL Jerseys Cheap Basketball Jerseys Cheap Basketball Jerseys Cheap Basketball Jerseys Cheap Basketball Jerseys Cheap Basketball Jerseys Cheap Basketball Jerseys Cheap Basketball Jerseys Cheap Basketball Jerseys Cheap Basketball Jerseys Cheap Basketball Jerseys Cheap Basketball Jerseys