I am proud to be a British Scot living in Ireland. Which is why following the goings on at Westminster upsets me. The mess that Briatin is facing at the end of March is of its own making. It is casued by the ignorance and failure of politicans to come together for the good of the country.
The most vociferous Brexiteers are letting their ignorance of history, be a reason to blame Ireland for the deal they have in front of them. It is not Irelands fault that neither Boris Johnson, or Jacobs Rees-Mogg stepped upto the plate when David Cameron stepped down. Instead they go onto the media to pontificate from the sidelines without accepting responsibility for anything.
Nor is it Irelands fault that the UK went into negotiations with Brusssels with no BATNA (Best Alternative to a Negotiated Agreement), a self imposed deadline and all their cards open for all to see. The Brexiteers fail to realise, according to Brexitcast, that most of the EU rules they dislike originated in Westminster.
Certain people would like the English population to believe that the World Trade Organisation says you don't need borders. When in actual fact what they did say was that whilst they do not enforce borders, in order to trade under their ausipices a country needs to have customs checks at its borders with other countries. This means that should Britain leeave the EU without a deal, in all likeiehood there will have to be a British border with the Republic of Ireland. One that will therefore have to be policed. This could and possibly will prove to be a human, economic and political tradegy for both countries. A fact that is not lost on the American Congress, who are trying to do whatever they can to suppport the Good Friday Agreement.
If the Brexit politicans in the ERG, (which interestingly stands for the European Research Group) are so cavalier about international agreements like this one. Why should any country trust them to stick to trade deals or international agreements in the future. Sir Ivan Rogers said the Brexiteers are dreaming that as soon as the British turn up to negotiate, everything they don't like about the Candian and Norwegian trade deals with EU, will magically be overcome. Recent evidence and the lack of cross party coordination on Brexit proves that Britain unfortunately is not as strong an international negotiator as some like to think. We are not living in the 18th century with an army and navy that rules the world.
The playing of party politcal games and general ignorance of the consequences is not Irelands fault. Ireland may in fact end up being a victim of these games. It feels similar to the position that Britain may find herself in. Like Norway, when it comes to dealing with the EU they have to accept trade conditons from the EU without having any influence.
In otherwords Ireland could see a significant drop in GDP due to something she has no influence over. Now pro-brexit people will say that all this is project fear, and it would be great if it was and everything turned out to be milk and honey. Yet given what has happened in the last two years, I don't think it is, but I do know that Ireland is not to blame.
