Sir, – As a Briton resident in Ireland, I am daily asked about Brexit. My reply is as follows: the so-called withdrawal agreement is merely a proposal. It will only become an agreement if ratified by parliament. Nothing in the Belfast Agreement requires the UK to remain in the EU. The UK wants free trade with the EU, including Ireland. It is the EU that is demanding that the Irish Government implements a hard border. In the referendum, about 80 per cent of MPs voted to Remain, but were also elected in 2017 on various manifestoes promising Brexit, and subsequently voted for withdrawal per Article 50. Their current hypocrisy is self-evident. The UK does not require the EU’s permission to leave the EU. Furthermore the referendum question was to leave, not a vote to ask the EU for permission to leave. – Yours, etc,
BILL BAILEY,
Ballineen,
Co Cork.
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A chara, – Boris Johnson uses a parliamentary mechanism (prorogation) to prevent the scuppering of a government policy and the headlines scream about a “coup” and an “attack on democracy”.
Jeremy Corbyn and the Liberal Democrats conspire to effectively overthrow the British government and install a temporary prime minister to block or delay a democratic referendum result, and the headlines talk about “political manoeuvres”.
So much for balance and reason. – Is mise,
SIMON O’CONNOR,
Crumlin,
Dublin 12.
Sir, – I am apparently in a minority by now looking forward to a good deal on Brexit with a degree of optimism. This optimism is based on a number of critical assumptions. First, the most important thing to Boris Johnson is the long-term survival of the Conservative Party, and he will adopt any position to ensure it. Furthermore, he is no fool, and privately knows the damage that a no-deal Brexit could do to Britain. Incidentally, Irish concerns, North or South, are not a factor in his thinking. His top priority is to win back the Tory vote that defected to the Brexit Party, and he achieves this by being a harder Brexiteer than they are. He has stated his credentials in this regard, by refusing to talk to the EU while a backstop is on the table, by attempting to prorogue parliament to stifle debate, and by threatening to remove the whip from any rebels.
When these ploys fail this week, he will not fire his rebel MPs, but will call an election on the excuse that parliament has forced him to do so. This will mean an extension beyond October 31st. His gamble is that Jeremy Corbyn is unelectable, and he can vanquish the Brexit Party. If and when he wins the election, he will then work on a deal, with none of Theresa May’s red lines, and seek a much softer, Norway-style agreement with the EU, which will not require a backstop. Mission accomplished. – Yours, etc,
DAVID MacDONALD,
Blackrock, Co Dublin.
A chara, – Joe McCarthy (Letters, September 3rd) suggests that Jeremy Corbyn could combat “the underlying inequality that caused the Brexit vote” if he were to become prime minster and be able to implement his radical anti-austerity programme, “including renationalisation of key industries”.
The problem is that Mr Corbyn’s programme is not allowed under EU rules (see Maastricht rules on competition and fiscal compact rules on budget control). In particular, the Fourth Rail Package, now being advanced in the EU, specifically insists that rail services must be offered to tender, with private enterprise allowed in to challenge any state industry.
Mr Corbyn’s programme can only be implemented if Britain is outside the EU and not bound by its competition and fiscal rules. – Is mise,
EOIN Ó MURCHÚ,
Cluain Dolcáin,
Baile Átha Cliath 22.
Sir, – The secession of a large member state from the EU is to be regretted, mainly for the damage it just might do to the cohesion of the remainder of the bloc. Of course, here in Ireland we also have the issue of a hard border which, even as it now receives the usual historical apathy in England, has at least gained the attention of Europe, and of those in the US who have a responsible outlook on the matter.
However, and notwithstanding all of the above, a reversal now of the decision of the UK to leave the EU would also have unfortunate consequences that are not insignificant.
Those who argue Remain should consider that Britain was never a good European. It rejected membership the euro; it refused to countenance taking part in the Schengen Area agreement (forcing us, because of the need to maintain the Common Travel Area, to do likewise); and it has now proved that it has at least a very sizeable minority that wants to go its own way in the world, for better or worse. This last would be a major problem in a European Union that had, as one of its members, a state with such a large disaffected proportion of its population.
We would all be better off if it were gone, with its buccaneering behaviour that surfaces from time to time through history. Even after a hard Brexit there will be piecemeal deals, such as that already done by motor insurers in Ireland to arrange that Irish drivers will not need green cards in a post-Brexit UK.
In due course, everything will settle down and we will get on with an EU that is not burdened with that large member of it that was never a good fit anyway, right since day one.
Just fix the Border issue. – Yours, etc,
SEAMUS McKENNA,
Dublin 14.
Sir, – Given the strong support of the DUP for Brexit, I am surprised to find that leaving the EU is not listed as one of its policies on the DUP website. There is no statement listing the benefits which will accrue to the residents of Northern Ireland upon leaving the EU. I wonder why. – Yours, etc,
BRIAN DAVISON,
Portmarnock,
Co Dublin.