Alistair Carmichael has criticised the appearance of two senior Conservative Ministers at the DUP’s annual Conference. The Conservatives are beholden to the DUP for a majority and in June agreed a deal with them which cost us £1 billion. The greater cost, though, is the damage to the sensitive political relationships in Northern Ireland.
Was is really necessary or wise for Damien Green to go for a dinner and Tory Chief Whip to be welcomed to the stage with such obvious pride by the DUP?
Great to have Conservative Chief Whip Rt Hon Julian Smith MP at our Party Conference. #DUP17 pic.twitter.com/1sRiNXFVws
— DUP (@duponline) November 25, 2017
Alistair Carmichael says that it wasn’t?
The peace process is still fragile and has survived because British politicians have been prepared to rise above the usual partisan politics.
It is difficult to see how anyone in Northern Ireland and Ireland will see Conservative ministers as being anything other than part of the problem now. It was a mistake for them to go.
Ireland has been much in the headlines this weekend. Tom Brake had this to say on the comments by Ireland’s EU Commissioner that it is a “very simple fact” that “if the UK or Northern Ireland remained in the EU Customs Union, or better still the Single Market, there would be no border issue”.
No-one – absolutely no-one – wants Brexit to destroy the peace we’ve enjoyed in Ireland for two decades. But government divisions over what Brexit means are stoking tensions.
The government and its Brextremists must swallow their pride and do the right thing for Ireland and the UK. Leaving the EU does not have to mean leaving the Single Market and Customs Union. Let’s heed the warning of Ireland’s European Commissioner.
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12 Comments
The Democratic Unionist Party’s leader has warned she will not back any plan for Northern Ireland to adopt European regulations after Brexit….Arlene Foster told her party’s conference she wanted a “sensible Brexit” with a seamless Irish border, but said Northern Ireland could not operate under different rules to the rest of the UK…
Shakespear’s “As you like it” or “Cake and eat it”…
I agree that it would have been better if the Conservative elite had stayed away. But as to “Leaving the EU does not have to mean leaving the Single Market and Customs Union,” I fear that this is not the case. If these are dependent on the four freedoms being observed – which would completely undermine the reasons for leaving – then remaining in Single Market and/or Customs Union will not be compatible with Brexit, which is the main reason, in my opinion, why Brexit should be abandoned as soon as possible.
Its not just a “Good Idea” for British mainland Parties to stay broadly neutral in NI questions, its absolutely essential for the whole “Peace” deal. As things stand, the current arrangements look suspiciouly like a return to Unionist Rule by the back door.
I agree with Brian Evans. Nobody has explained how Britain can remain in the Single Market and the Customs Union without being in the EU, and it does not appear possible. Then, since the DUP will not accept a closed border with the Republic, and the EU will not accept an open one if Britain has left the EU, it seems the negotiation on this cannot succeed and the only solution will indeed be for Britain to remain in the EU.
What puzzles me about the brave Brexiteers is there naivety (or do they secretly crave a hard Brexit). Time after time they have been told you can’t have your cake (never mind have some to keep), but after rejection, after rejection still they try. I know the likes of the Sun still push “cake and eat it” but you’d have to be naive in the extreme to believe it; and surely our leaders can’t be Sun readers (not sure about that one).
It has been possible to be in the Single Market, Customs Union and Schengen. Various countries: Norway, Iceland, Switzerland, Serbia and Liechtenstein have done so, but no country has negotiated such relationships on the way out. I have heard it that the Swiss arrangement will be avoided if at all possible.
It is likely that staying in the Single Market and Customs Union would be at least as costly as remaining in the EU and the Court of Justice would still interpret cases. That said the economic benefits would be greater and mostly the CJEU would not have to be involved if British judges simply did not refer to the CJEU for guidance.
Most of the Court of Justice’s work is not hearing cases, but forming legal opinions of EU law interpretation, at the behest of state judges. Cases that are heard there usually involve two or more EU states and sometimes third states.
If the UK could agree with EFTA countries, the UK could operate through the EFTA court, which in any case is close to the CJEU; however if the UK went that way, I suspect that a solution would be found, simply because other paths are too difficult and unsatisfactory.. If the UK decided to stay in the Single Market and Customs Union, negotiations would be opened up immediately.
The fact is that there has been no vote on the Single Market; even if immigration was the single biggest issue, it only takes a few percent off the 52% for there not to have been a majority. There is no irreversible mandate to leave the Single Market and the Customs Union.
“The peace process is still fragile and has survived because British politicians have been prepared to rise above the usual partisan politics.”
Unless of course we think of the longstanding support for Sinn Fein by the Leader of the Opposition, Shadow Chancellor and Shadow Home Secretary. Whichever of the major parties holds power for the next few years there can be no pretence of equidistance from the two main parties in Northern Ireland. Both now have a horse in the race and, as someone who lost friends in the troubles, it is very dangerous indeed.
Thanks to Martin for outlining possibilities of staying in the single market and the customs union. This of course is where the Government appears immovable – we must be out of both. If the Labour Party would commit to both, there could perhaps be some hope there..
@ Martin @ Katharine,
It may be a silly question – but what would be the point of being out of the EU if we were in both the single market and the customs union?
@ Katharine,
“Then, since the DUP will not accept a closed border with the Republic, and the EU will not accept an open one if Britain has left the EU…….”
I’ve come to the same conclusion. But the location of any border posts, ie whether on the EU or UK side, is politically important.
If the Republic wants to put them up on its side, or rather is told to by the EU, then there’s not much that the UK can do about it. There would be no basis for the Nationalist population in the North to complain that the UK wasn’t keeping to its side of the Good Friday agreement.
The land border isn’t the only issue. Most Irish/EU trade travels via England and Wales using the shorter Irish Sea and Channel crossings using RoRo trucks. That’s perhaps going to be at least as large a problem.
Sounds like one or two Lib Dems think you should be nasty and stand-offish to a party who are propping up your government. Goodness knows how they think t DUP should have been treated if they actually went into coalition! 😉
‘But the location of any border posts, ie whether on the EU or UK side, is politically important.’
When there were UK and Eire border posts, they were close to the actual frontier, but not exactly on it, being a short distance into the country that owned them.
They were usually smallish huts and some of the customs offices were situated in the nearest sizeable town.