On October 2, the Prime Minister Boris Johnson finally presented his first draw of a Brexit deal. Today, he defended his plan in the House of Commons.
The seven page Brexit plan wants the Irish backstop to be replaced. Customs checks on goods traded between the UK and EU would be “decentralised”. Paperwork would submitted electronically. There would only be a “very small number” of physical checks, which would take place away from the border itself, at business premises or at “other points in the supply chain”. There would be no physical border. In addition, the Johnson government is promising a “New Deal for Northern Ireland”, with financial commitments to help Northern Ireland to get smoothly through the transitional soft-Brexit phase.
The Johnson plan stipulates that Northern Ireland would stay in the European single market for goods, but leave the customs union alongside the rest of the UK at the start of 2021. Northern Ireland would, with the consent of politicians in the Northern Ireland Assembly, continue to apply EU legislation relating to agricultural and other goods. The Johnson government calls this arrangement an “all-island regulatory zone”.
By the end of the standstill transition period in December 2020, a majority of the regional parliament of Northern Ireland would have to agree to that special relationship with the EU’s single market and, afterwards, it would have to be reconfirmed by the Northern Irish parliament every four years.
If the Northern Irish parliament would reject the plan of Northern Ireland staying in the EU’s single market for goods, there would be a no-deal situation. The EU and the UK would be forced by law to restore a hard border between Ireland and Northern Ireland.
Speaking at the Conservative Party conference on October 2, Boris Johnson had said the only alternative to his plan was a no-deal Brexit. However, parliament has ruled out a no-deal Brexit by October 31. Johnson’s no-deal Brexit on October 31 would be illegal. At the same time, the prime minister repeatedly said that he would obey the law. Find the contradiction.
The European Commission said regarding this seven-page proposal that there was progress but “problems” remained.
Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar stressed the Brexit proposal did not “fully meet the agreed objectives of the backstop” — in terms of upholding the EU’s single market, protecting peace in Northern Ireland and supporting cross-border trade between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland.
The opposition leader Jeremy Corbyn said in the House of Commons debate on October 3 that Johnson’s Brexit plan was a “rehashed version of perviously rejected proposals that would put the Good Friday Agreement at risk…” Corbyn called it worse than Theresa May’s deal. “The current proposals would damage the whole UK economy, the Northern Irish economy especially and would undermine the Good Friday agreement.” He underlined the proposals “reject any form of customs union, something demanded by every business and industry body in Britain and every trade union”. Corbyn alledged that the Tories “want to ditch EU standards on workers’ rights, regulations and consumer standards and engage in a race to the bottom.”
On October 2, Arlene Foster, leader of Northern Ireland’s Democratic Unionist Party (DUP), an ally in Johnson’s minority government, representing the Protestants, supported the plan, saying it would allow Northern Ireland to leave the customs union and single market at the same time as the rest of the UK. She called the new proposals “sensible and serious”.
However, the leaders of the other major Northern Irish party, representing Catholics and the majority in Northern Ireland who voted Remain, Sinn Fein, called the plans a “non-starter”. Sinn Fein accused the DUP of “working against the interests of the people” of Northern Ireland.
The leader of the Liberal Democrats, Jo Swinson, twittered today: “The PM’s Brexit plan would be a disaster for the border communities of Northern Ireland and Ireland. He’d know that if he had bothered to visit, shameful he still refuses to do so.”
The Scottish National Party (SNP) dismissed the Boris Johnson’s proposals as “window dressing”.
As for the press, the Irish Times worte that Johnson’s proposals are “unrealistic and unworkable”, adding: “A customs border would require checks, infrastructure and a much higher level of policing and monitoring than currently takes place… interventions of this kind would be toxic politically.” The Irish Times suspects: “The prime minister and those around him have anticipated that this offer will be rejected and their primary objective in framing it in such a manner is their own domestic political advantage.”
The Irish Independent wrote the Johnson’s Brexit proposal “asks too much and delivers far too little”. The Italian newspaper La Repubblica, like several other publications, called Johnson’s plan a “provocation”.
Some European commentators rightly pointed out to the fact that the UK was leaving the EU and not the other way round [Added at 18:02: The EU Commission speaker said it too]. It just needs one of the remaining 27 EU member states to say no to Johnson’s deal for it to be burried, ending up with a no-deal.
The UK opposition commands a majority in the Lower House because PM Johnson expelled over 20 anti-no-Brexit Conservatives from his party. Boris is the leader of a minority government. If united, the opposition could take over any time. It is time for them to act.
[Added at 16:23 German time: The EU co-president Donald Tusk just tweeted: “Today I had two phone calls on #Brexit, first with Dublin then with London. My message to Taoiseach@LeoVaradkar: We stand fully behind Ireland. My message to PM@BorisJohnson: We remain open but still unconvinced].
[Added at 17:13 German time: Nigel Farage just tweeted against the new deal: “The new offer to Brussels resembles an attempt to put lipstick on a pig.”]
Beauty items at Amazon.com and Amazon.co.uk.
Article added at 16:12 German time.
