After yesterday’s fanfare over the Conservative and Unionist party’s ‘solution’ for the UK/Ireland border it has already been debunked by the Irish Taoiseach and the EU, although BJ has denied that the policy had been floated by him in order to gauge the level of fire. The flack was intense so the policy has been rolled back a bit and now ‘most’ of the customs checks will be carried out in depots and warehouses, prior to lorries leaving. This would apparently mean that there would be no infrastructure required at the border. But the United Kingdom’s Prime Minister today admitted that customs checks would be required in order to have different trade policies on either side of the border, which is one of the main reasons for leaving the EU apparently.
Of course, with those different trade policies the cost of goods on either side of the border will be very different due to availability and differing tax regimes. Those differences in prices lead to smuggling, which is highly profitable. The Ireland/UK border is notoriously porous and it couldn’t be effectively sealed during the troubles, so what makes Boris think that he can seal it in 30 days?
The idea is almost as ludicrous as the Prime Minister. It is never going to be accepted by the EU, but that is not the point of it. It is an albatross, flown with the intention that it is shot, then the bad luck will fall on it’s detractors who will be labelled as something or other. Then the Tories will blame the EU for not accepting something which will never work, even in a unionist generation.
The overall Brexit strategy that we see going on at the moment is one of blame avoidance. Nobody wants to take the blame for the fallout from Brexit. Boris wants a general election, that would mean that parliament would be dissolved when Brexit hits. He would then be free to implement martial law and use all of those Henry VIII powers which old Mrs May left him. Failing that he wants to blame the EU and their intransigence for not accepting his wonderful offer.
Meanwhile Jeremy Corbyn doesn’t want to take the blame for Brexit either. He definitely doesn’t want to be PM when Brexit hits, he wants the Tories to carry the can. And so they should. This whole Brexit debacle exists because of the Tories and their differences over the EU. But Labour have to carry a lot of the blame as well, their ambiguity over Brexit has seen them fall to fifth place in Scotland. When leadership was required Jeremy sent the question to a focus group while he went to his allotment and tended to his kale. But Brexit suits Jeremy too, then he will be able to create a socialist utopia from the ruins of the UK.
The simple fact is that there isn’t going to be a new deal. That leaves Theresa May’s deal or No Deal as far as the deals go, but the choices before us are not binary as the politicians insist. We also have the option of revoking Article 50 and having No Brexit at all. Those are the choices facing the UK at least.
England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland also have another choice: that is to part company and go our separate ways. England can become an insular little pariah state if it wishes. Scotland can forge it’s path in the world and become the light in the north, a beacon of hope and tolerance as an example to the world. Northern Ireland can choose to re-unify with the Republic of Ireland or even become an independent state of their own. Wales can choose to become fully integrated into a Greater England and create the state of Wangland, or join the other Celtic nations and govern itself.
The end of the UK is nigh, don’t shoot the albatross.
