Vocal Voices

What is going on?

May writes in the Sunday Telegraph that she is going back to Brussels 'battling for Britain'.

The EU keeps telling us / her that the WA and NI backstop are not open to renegotiation.

Meanwhile, Corbyn has repeated his call for a snap election even though Labour are something like seven points behind the Tories in recent polls.

Hunt says that turning back on Brexit would cause a 'large populist movement' but that extra time could be needed.

Graham Brady, architect of the 'alternative arrangements' amendment says he could accept a delay to Brexit - as long as a deal was already agreed.(?)

In an about turn Fox now indicates he could support a delay to Brexit, but only if the circumstances were right.

The Sunday Mail, Times and Reuters all run with the story of a June 6th general election. Number 10's denials are on the quiet side.

And there are rumours that members of the Royal Family could be evacuated if there is civil unrest. Lucky them.

So there we have it, a broad spectrum of maybes. what ifs, possibilities, probabilities and could be's. Where any of them lead is anybody's guess.

Let's kick the can down the road, pt 94.

I've given up totally now second guessing what is going to happen. I have decided the best thing is to sit back and wait.

It sells news.

Reality? Our executive is currently dead set on leaving March 29th. All focus is on how that exit will be facilitated.

Everything else is noise.

Suff, if we budge up you could join me and Meds. We have digestives - plain, milk or dark chocolate - rich teas and a few bourbons, but no alcohol.

The main problem regarding Brexit seems to be the Northern Ireland/Ireland border.

A simple answer would be to relinquish Northern Ireland from the United Kingdom, and give it to Ireland.
Our relationship with Northern Ireland has been a problem to us now for donkey's years, and I don't know
why anyone has not thought of getting rid of it before.

Aggers, I think many people have thought about it, but NI is not an heirloom to be passed on. There are nearly two million people living there and many of them do not want to be part of the Republic.

As I understand things the Constitution of Ireland and the Good Friday Agreement (GFA) both allow for a united Ireland so long as there are majorities for it in referenda held both sides of the border. Referenda on unification can only be held in NI every seven years, I'm not sure about the ROI.

It is possible that a future united Ireland could be formed, but it will be an option for the peoples of Ireland and not the governments of the ROI or the UK. If it did happen then NI could be incorporated in the EU, which is what the majority there want, similar to the way the former East Germany was incorporated with German unification after the fall of the Warsaw Pact.

It's a tricky one, no doubt about that.

I agree entirely with this Frank. It is up to the people of Northern Ireland to decide if they want to be united with Ireland or not. Northern Ireland is not something that can just be got rid of on a whim the UK.

However, I cant understand why Northern Ireland was ever partitioned off in the first place. Perhaps I am ignorant of events, but if there was a referendum surely the result should have applied to the whole of Ireland and not just three-quarters of it. A perfect example of all or nothing is the present referendum on Brexit, where Wales and Scotland voted to remain but England voted to leave. No-one has suggested that part of the UK stay and part of the UK leave.

No doubt someone will put me right about this, but it is just my opinion for what it is worth.

I am just reading some alternatives to the backstop, all of them courtesy of the BBC.

Clarification - and another referendum. The EU should clarify that it has no objections to Great Britain leaving the customs union backstop while Northern Ireland stays in it and that that five years after the beginning of the operation of a Northern Ireland-only backstop there would be a referendum on whether NI is to remain within the EU's customs union and single market.

Anathema to the DUP,so a non-starter.

A European customs association. German Ifo Institute suggests that the difficulties with the backstop should cause both sides to fundamentally rethink their red lines. It proposes a new European customs association - a permanent customs union between the UK and the EU, but it acknowledges even that would not be enough to keep the Irish border frictionless and the UK would have to effectively remain in the single market for goods and perhaps services.

It require the EU to forego one of its four freedoms - FOM. Another non-starter.

Beef up the political declaration. The European Policy Centre, suggests improvements aimed at "rescuing" the withdrawal agreement. However, given the prime minister's intention to seek legally binding changes to the withdrawal agreement changes to the political declaration are unlikely to impress pro-Brexit MPs.

Non-starter MkIII.

Ireland leaves the EU customs union. Ireland could leave the EU's customs union and instead create a joint customs territory with the EU and the UK. That would eliminate the possibility of customs checks at the Irish border but mean new customs procedures between Ireland and the EU.

The Republic will not agree to that, so another non-starter.

UK invades the EU. This one is mine. We then take over all the functions of the EU and create a single market. We sort of 'Remain' and simultaneously also 'Leave' and everyone is happy.

Why not? It is as good as all the other non-options.