If there is EU-UK Brexit agreement it means one of two things. Either the British Ministry of Defense has finished undermining the Good Friday Agreement or Whitehall now has plans to avoid any EU Treaty requirements. That’s the British; that’s what they do! Britain claims to be exceptional because it is ‘freedom-loving’ and deserves to have its cake and eat it. They also claim to be ‘special’ because they are always on America’s side. We beg to differ.
The long Brexit negotiations provided Britain with opportunities to : a) push a law granting amnesty to soldiers and MI-5 personnel involved in killing civilians in N. I.; b) obstruct collusion killing investigations four more years; c) advance a bill to legalize and grant amnesties for murder and rape by British agents like those involved in the Kenova Inquiry; and d) passed a bill to permit Ministerial veto over EU custom requirements governing trade in goods and services between NI and Britain.
With the repeal of the 1998 Human Rights Act, the Conservatives will finish ‘reforming’ the Irish peace process. These included: a) ensuring the UK AG can veto any action proposed by the N. I Director of Public Prosecutions (the Justice Act (2002); b) permitting Ministerial veto of any request of an independent public inquiry (the Inquiries Act (2005); c) corrupting the work of the Historic Inquiries Team and Coroners Inquests to block PSNI appearances at inquests and d) installing MI-5 agents in every N. I. police station in 2014 against Lord Patten’s recommendations.
But the 4-year political theater of Brexit talks will seem like a sprint compared to what lies ahead if the UK wants a US trade deal. Why? President-elect Biden, like Speaker Pelosi, has emphatically stated that undermining the Good Friday Agreement makes a US-UK trade deal unlikely. The incoming Administration also will offer a reasoned trade policy and giving greater priority to an EU trade deal; a welcome change from Trump’s tariff tirades. Also, Biden’s foreign policy will likely emphasize human rights concerns rather than arms sales. Britain’s collusion killing of lawyers Rosemary Nelson and Patrick Finucane, their refusal to cooperate with Ireland over the British Army and MI-5 role in the Dublin-Monaghan bombings and their provision of arms to their double agent Brian Nelson satisfies the definition of a State sponsor of terrorism. It never seemed to bother Secretary of State Pompeo but Biden and Blinken are more sensitive to British bullying in Ireland. Whether it involves Brexit threats from Home Secretary Priti Patel to disrupt food supplies to Ireland or burying State sanctioned murders, Britain will need to change its ways for any deal.
But for Britain the past is probably prologue. In 1985 PM Thatcher confidently lied to Congress stating “…the problems of NI will not be solved by the assassin’s gun or bomb” while Britain employed both. And let us not forget Britain’s gold standard for truth and accountability for its actions in NI involved lying for 40 years about Bloody Sunday murders, smearing the victims then publishing a report holding no one accountable! President Biden and Congress will have an opportunity to show that as far as Britain’s legacy in Ireland is concerned, it is neither exceptional nor America’s friend.
Michael J. Cummings, a native of Springfield, Mass., is a graduate of St. Anselm’s College (B. A., 1968) and New York University (M. P. A., 1970) . He established the American Brexit Committee in 2016 and serves as Secretary. He is a former member of the National Boards of the Irish American Unity Conference (1996-2013), the Ancient Order of Hibernians (2001-2008), and the Irish Northern Aid Committee (1988-1996). He also served on the Peace and Justice Commission of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Albany.
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