Burning buses

Arlene Foster, DUP First Minister tweeted yesterday evening:

"This is not protest. This is vandalism and attempted murder. These actions do not represent unionism or loyalism. They are an embarrassment to Northern Ireland and only serve to take the focus off the real law breakers in Sinn Fein. My thoughts are with the bus driver."

The protests regarding the Irish Sea border have the root cause not in the NIP, but in Brexit itself. As I have said on many occasions, the referendum asked simply whether the UK should stay or leave the EU. That is political Brexit, whatever came after that is purely a choice of the UK, as were the agreements freely entered into to try to make this hardest of Brexits work.

If Brexit was defined, as it was, that it meant leaving the SM and CU, then the regulatory border, and there would have to be one, either is along the border between the Republic and NI or down the Irish Sea, there is no other choice. The former would enrage the Republican side, and the latter the Unionist. But one had to be taken.
May chose the former, but that was clearly against the GFA, and Johnson negotiated the WA with the NIP and then the TCA.

This is all down to Johnson.

Nor did Johnson seek approval from the devolved adminstrations at all. And NI voted to remain in the EU, so the UK Government did not consult with the people or Stormont for any approval. The DUP, which claims to speak for NI was the only party that ushed for Brexit, and also was against the GFA.

Many people warned that Brexit would destabilise NI, Project Fear Brexiteers shouted, even Brexiteers from NI.

And then Johnson threw the DUP and Loyalists under the bus by putting the regualatory border down the Irish Sea, thus breaking the UK single market and sowing the seeds for the break up of the UK. Though that road might be tougher than many of us realise. But before then there will be more violence.

But remember those blue passports......

The WA and NIP cannot be renegotiated, or at least at speed. Either all sides can try to make it work, after all it is what the UK Government signed up to, as did the EU in good faith on the EU's side. Brexit cannot be reversed, that road is blocked, so how best to make the situation: either make it work, or align UK and EU standards, in law, so that such checks are needed, this would mean either rejoining the SM and CU or being associate members of them both.