THE END OF THE GOOD FRIDAY AGREEMENT
We are grateful to our friends at the Centre for the Union for their permission to republish the following article
THE END OF THE GOOD FRIDAY AGREEMENT
By Ben Habib for Centre for the Union
As we enter the new year, a satisfactory resolution over the Northern Ireland Protocol looks as far away as ever according to Ben Habib in an article from our affiliate, Centre for the Union.
The EU, he says remains as obdurate as ever:
“Endless pointless negotiations have taken place with Maros Sefcovic, Vice President of the EU. These negotiations cannot achieve anything because Sefcovic has a mandate only to tinker at the edges of the Protocol. He recently said with political will the differences between the EU and the UK over the Protocol could be addressed. He means the opposite. He hopes for the customary absence of political will at Westminster and a British capitulation. Sefcovic is certain to get what he wants.”
All of which is made worse by the UK government’s failure to acknowledge the central injustice at the heart of the issue:
“Chris Heaton-Harris and Steve Baker have converted from being Brexiteers to Irish nationalists. Heaton-Harris keeps berating the DUP for not re-forming Stormont. He threatened to call elections unless the DUP immediately came to heel. It is lost on him that it is not the restoration of Stormont which is required; it is the restoration of Northern Ireland to its rightful place within the United Kingdom. It is also lost on him that there can be no legitimate democratic elections in Northern Ireland for as long as it is itself deprived of democracy through the imposition on it of foreign laws adjudicated by a foreign court.”
The author concludes his piece with a damning indictment on the Prime Minister himself:
“He is a bean counter. He has no affinity for the integrity of the United Kingdom or its sovereignty. He claims to be a Brexiteer but his actions indicate otherwise. He will be prepared either to ditch Northern Ireland or align the entire UK with the EU to mask the effects of the Protocol.”
As ever both CIBUK and its affiliates will continue to monitor developments as they unfold.
The full article can be read here.