On rejoining the EU, Brexit and Northern Ireland

Thanks to constitutions lagal commentator, David Allen Green (DAG), I learned a decade ago, that if Brexiteers could make Brexit work in Northern Ireland (NI), the rest would be easy.

A decade on, there is a partial regulatory border down the irish Sea, so instead of Brexit strengthening the United Kingdowm, it made it weaker, having broken the UK Single Market.

As part of the Brexit Agreement of 2019, NI remained part of the EU single market, this because of an outcome of the Good Friday Agreement (GFA), that there was a single trading bloc on the island of Ireland.

So, if there could be no regulatory border don the political border between NI and the Republic, then it had to be somewhere else.

Why does there have to be a regulatory border? Because the sovereignty of the EU had to be respected. The EU has its own rules and regulations, so without clear agreements on shared standards, taxes and tariffs, there has to be a border.

So, the harder the divergance in regulations by Great Britain from the EU, the harder the border between GB and the EU, but also between GB and NI.

Actions and decisions have consequences.

The GFA was a brilliant piece of legislation between the UK, Ireland and the US. With both countries either side of the border in the EU, both sides also subject to the Europen Convention on Human Rights (ECHR), which is not an EU institution, citizens on both sides had the same rights.

Not only that, the ECHR is guaranteed as part of the GFA, and to remove that would require the whole of the GFA to be renegotiated.

Both Scotand and NI both voted to remain in the EU Referendum that brough Brexit.

Both countries were taken out of the EU against the will of its people. Nor did the ruling Conservative Government consult with either the Scottish Parliament of the NI Assembly.

Brexit came about two years after the Scottish Independance vote, which many Westminister politians spoke highly of the Union. Then English exeptionalism took hold, and the thought was that if Scotalnd, Wales and NI could have their own Parliament and/or political institutions, then why not England. Laws for England were introduced and voted on in Westminster, where MPs from the three other countries could vote upon.

The Eu had, and still has its faults, but being a meber brought in more benefits than memberships costs, my over a factor of ten. Though the Eu doesn't advertise what it does. It seems elete and remote, making the lies Johnson spun when a bored journalist, and bendy bananas and small condoms were such a hoot.

The referendum asked should the UK be a member of the EU or leave. And the UK voted to leave.

On the 31st January 2020, the final act took place, and the UK left the financial and political EU intitutions. The referendum result was honoured, and rubber stamped by the 2019 election when Johnson's Government won a majority based on the deal he agreed to. Farage's Party stood down their candidates against Conservative ones, to ensure the landslide was won.

Brexit was assured.

Since then, Brexit has not gone well. As a nation we are poorer, we trade less, investment and productivity has flatlined.

So, currently there is a push for rejoining the EU. The PM himself was very strong on rejoining both the CU and SM before he was elected. Now he points out the red lines of Starmer's manifesto, on which Labour was elected. In order to get a madate for rejoining, a party would have to be elected with that in its manifesto. And as the Conservatives, and Labour are both against rejoining, its not going to happen.

And that is forgetting that its just not the UK's decision to rejoin, the EU itself would have to want us to rejoin. Which they do, but only when there is a political consencious here that the UK should. UK politians and commetators forget that cots and effort that Brexit caused the EU and we can only rejoin when we have had the discussion with ourselves on the real costs of Brexit, and we as a nation what to do something about it.

I want the UK to rejoin, but it is a generation away, and only after we accept, with talking to ourselves the cost Brexit inficted on us as a nation, and how we allowed that to happen.

And we're not there yet.