By Willie Drennan
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Sometime in the distant future Stormont might, or might not, get to decide the flag it flies. |
Boris
has been a shining light amidst the dull world of the political
elite. A charmer, comedian and lovable clown. But he is the Prime
Minister of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
and that's no joke.
Boris
had opportunity to go down in history as the 21st Century
Churchillian hero who led a sovereign Britain out across the seven
seas to befriend the world. Instead he seems to have chosen the much
easier well-trodden path of achieving glory within the confines of
the European Union Project. They are just loving him now in Brussels,
Strasbourg, Berlin and Bantry Bay.
There
are many reasons why I think this Treaty is bad for the whole of the
UK but one major deception in the Boris version of the Theresa EU
Treaty is the claim that the Irish Backstop is gone. It's not gone,
it's there in Article 18 of the Irish Protocol section of the
proposed Treaty. And worse, it is now Backstop-Plus.
The
EU and their Irish agents were belligerently adamant that the
Backstop was absolutely essential. It was obvious they were totally
serious and resolute on this. They are now jumping up and down in
glee and bombarding praise upon Boris for handing them the Backstop-Plus. Even Theresa May was unwilling to give them a border in the
Irish Sea.
The
Irish Protocol reads like a Halloween horror story for people in
Northern Ireland: Article 18 is where the full content of the witch's
backstop brew is revealed and understood.
Article
18 is where Boris and his new-found EU cronies try to tell the plebs
of Northern Ireland that the Backstop is gone: that they will be able
to vote to leave the EU and be British once again at some stage. Aye
right!
The
deal is that four years after the EU/ UK transition period has ended
the public representatives in Stormont will be able to vote to
continue within the EU's Single Market under EU rules and
regulations. Two years after that any decisions for change may be
implemented after discussion among all the political bodies
concerned.
There
are many problems with this. First of all I can't find anywhere in
the text where it explains how Northern Ireland might return to being
a fully fledged member of the UK again: should Stormont ever manage to
organise a vote and vote against the status quo. They don't seem to have
considered this an option.
The
transition period that is referred to, I assume, relates to the
transition to a
UK/ EU Free Trade Deal: thus eliminating the need for customs tariffs etc.
That really could take many years as under the Boris Deal and
Backstop-Plus, the EU will have no incentive to permit the end of
that transition period.
Should
the transition period ever end for real then 4 years later the MLA's
of Stormont would be allowed a vote . But that's only if anyone at Stormont is home. Currently that assembly doesn't function
at all, and when it once did it couldn't agree on anything due to its
mandatory coalition set-up.
In
Stormont any decisions had to have cross community support in
accordance with the Belfast/Good Friday Agreement. However, while
curiously making an exception to the GFA to allow a majority vote,
Article 18 does also emphasise that the result of that vote must to be addressed in accordance with the fine details of the
Agreement of 1998.
This
to me reads like the crucial legal wriggle room that the EU requires
to ensure that this part of the UK remains under its domain until it
becomes a fully fledged member of the EU: as part of a United
Ireland. It's the Irish Backstop in new legal jargon.
This
becomes the Backstop-Plus when the customs border between Northern
Ireland and the rest of the UK is added to the mix.
Brexiteers
in England may think it is all fair enough as Northern Ireland voted
56 to 44% to Remain in the EU. But, as the result of Scottish /UK
Referendum of 2014 demonstrated there is a big difference
between voting to stay in the UK and voting to stay in the EU. Unionists in England need to understand and consider this.
Why
is Article 18 with it's Backstop-Plus necessary at all? Why is it
necessary to keep Northern Ireland tied into the EU Customs Union
indefinitely if the UK and EU are going to have a free trade deal?
There are obvious answers to the above and they are not good ones.
Seems
like Article 18/Backstop-Plus would give the EU good enough reason to
delay a UK Free Trade Deal until such times as the break-up of the
United Kingdom is officially under way. This has been the EU's game
plan for a long time and it's all falling into place for them and
their new compatriots in Ireland and Scotland.
This
is why the threat of a hard Irish Border was prioritised at the start
of the referendum campaign. It is why Irish and Scottish separatists,
who became EU devotees over night, boasted that Brexit would cause
the end of the UK - as England would vote Leave and rest of the UK
would vote Remain.
Another dangerous misconception in relation to Northern Ireland and
this Treaty is that we will have the economic best of both worlds:
with business and investment flocking here from across the UK,
Ireland and EU. The opposite is much more likely. Investors require
certainty. The only certainty in NI under this Treaty will be
uncertainty - for years to come.
In
Article 18 there is no facilitation for the electorate of Northern
Ireland to have opportunity for a straightforward referendum on this
Treaty before it is approved. This is blatantly anti-democratic, and
potentially illegal in international law - whatever that means
nowadays. It also contravenes the consent aspect of the Belfast/GFA
and most certainly goes against the spirit of that Agreement. And there is also the Act of Union of 1801. Has that been changed without proper process?
A
2nd
EU Referendum in Northern Ireland is the same as a Border Poll. It will be about choosing Britain or Brussels. It
should only be happening a few years after the UK has left the EU.
But the goal posts have changed. Northern Ireland should be given the
opportunity to decide our own destiny now. It is most unlikely
future generations will be given that democratic choice under the EU
Project.
A
Border Poll of any sort in these circumstances will be very divisive
and potentially very dangerous in a land only just recovering from 25
years of horrendous violent conflict. But the Boris Deal /Treaty
will reignite those divisions anyway as it throws the 1998 Agreement
to the wind.
Referendums
are democratic - at least when they are respected and implemented.
This Treaty would abandon the democratic options as outlined in the
1998 Agreement. Northern Ireland's status within the UK would be
altered before the people were allowed to vote on it.
The
only possible way to advert a long period of crisis for Northern
Ireland, which will impact across the UK, is for this Treaty to be
postponed until there is at least a Westminster election where the future of
the UK is on the table. Or, until Northern Ireland has had a chance
to have a referendum on what has been deviously thrust upon us.
Three
years of relentless obstruction of Brexit have made people desperate to
get on with it. But this Treaty is being rushed through too quickly.
People need time to understand and digest the complex details.
If
not, future generations will be shocked at what our generation
allowed to happen.
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