I
Distributed to Congress by
Irish National Caucus
“Backstop” provides
essential guarantee during Brexit chaos
Irish News Editorial. Belfast. Monday, September 2, 2019
All the indications are that we are moving into a defining period
during the Brexit crisis, with the motion which the Labour Party is
due to publish at Westminster perhaps the last chance of avoiding a
no-deal catastrophe.
When the Conservative cabinet minister Michael Gove yesterday pointedly
refused to confirm that the British government would abide by any
legislation which may be passed, he summed up the constitutional
chaos which has been allowed to develop since Boris Johnson became
prime minister.
The idea that even as cavalier a figure as Mr Johnson would follow his
enforced suspension of parliament with an attempt to ignore the law
of the land is breathtaking but his refusal to distance himself from
Mr Gove’s intervention was telling.
Another sign of the desperation surrounding the prime minister were the
reports – again followed by official silence – that he intends to
prevent Tory MPs who vote against a no-deal EU exit from standing in
the next general
election.
Given Mr Johnson’s own record of blatant disloyalty when Theresa May was
in office, and the fact that eight current cabinet ministers had
defied the party whip by voting against her Brexit deal earlier this
year, the former Conservative chancellor Philip Hammond was fully entitled
to conclude that a “staggeringly hypocritical” plan was emerging.
The insurance policy provided by the Irish backstop arrangement has become
more important than ever, and the unequivocal support offered to the
measure by the Scottish Nationalist Party’s Westminster leader Ian
Blackford in his Irish News interview today was timely.
Mr Blackford, who has emerged as an influential ally of the Irish
government, was completely correct to describe the backstop as
“recognition of what is required to be delivered through the Good Friday
Agreement”.
At a stage when the London administration appears entirely apathetic about
the dire consequences a no-deal Brexit will have for Ireland, north and
south, it is reassuring that voices of sanity like Mr Blackford are
speaking out firmly.
With the EU’s top Brexit negotiator, Michel Barnier, providing an equally
strong endorsement of the backstop yesterday, it is clear that,
during dangerous times, it must be retained in the best interests of
Irish people from all traditions.
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