Today in the Commons our politicians will try again to cobble together a Brexit of some sort. They hope this in extremis approach will get through Parliament when, so far, our political class has repeatedly failed to agree a plan. May’s deal is as dead as a dodo, and political consensus among our rulers about where to go next is yet to emerge.
Pardon the lack of originality at this very late stage, but the problem with Brexit is Brexit. If this wasn’t clear at the beginning, it is now. The facts of Theresa May’s historic three defeats have laid it bare. They have also embedded Brexit fatigue deep into our body politic before we are beyond debating just the Withdrawal Agreement. But too many of our politicians – sadly Labour as well as ERGers – are trying to keep their Brexit unicorns in flight.
Last Friday, in a moment of sober reflection, Nigel Dodds of the Democratic Unionist Party said “better to cancel Brexit than to risk the break-up of the United Kingdom”. Not someone I’d normally cite, but even stopped clocks can be right twice a day. And more of our political class could do with taking a leaf out of Dodds’ facing the facts reckoning.
Our Labour Party agrees that the Withdrawal Agreement must contain an Irish backstop. The reason for this is simple: the Good Friday Agreement (GFA). To maintain Britain’s obligations under this treaty, Northern Ireland must remain under the terms of the Acquis Communautaire. In effect, staying in the European Union (EU) in all but name.
May has promised Britain will also align with such regulation as is needed to ensure no divergence between Northern Ireland and the rest of the United Kingdom arises as a result of Brexit. It’s inconceivable that our Shadow Cabinet should disagree with this proposition as the introduction of regulatory border checks for goods travelling from Britain to the Province, will threaten an uneasy peace and regress the peace process.
If MPs stop looking for unicorns they may actually spot the elephant now in the room. The backstop keeps Northern Ireland, and Northern Ireland alone, under the jurisdiction of the European Commission and (by implication) the European Court of Justice. This means that they will have the power to impose remedies should Northern Ireland breach their regulations.
However, as no such agreement exists for Britain, self-alignment with EU rules alone will not stop regulatory border checks. That requires a separate agreement with our European partners. Yet, Britain has been told by the EU that the benefits of a Customs Union – new or otherwise – and its Single Market will not be available without its obligations.
Tory Brexiteers were right to smell a rat. The only way to avoid regulatory border checks between Britain and Northern Ireland is by basing the future relationship on a backstop-plus agreement applying equally to every part of the United Kingdom. This means one thing, and one thing only, a fake, rule taker, Brexit. And that’s where the compromises needed to meet our obligations under the GFA take us. To a place no Briton has voted for. Nor, needs to go.
That’s why It’s now incumbent on Labour to start telling people the choice is no longer between Brexit and no Brexit. The Tories have screwed up negotiations so badly, and negotiated with Europe so poorly, that they have now left us in a position where there is grave risk of being screwed by Brexit itself. May and her Brexit cobblers will try and conjure a choice between a no-deal Brexit which would have catastrophic economic consequences or a fake one. Neither is better than what we already have. The only realistic option to avoid regulatory border checks for goods going from Britain to Northern Ireland - a backstop plus future as a Customs Union on its own won’t do because it imposes a massive loss of sovereignty. No Leaver or Remainer voted for Britain to have less sovereignty than it has now.
Let’s face it, the freedom ride voted for in 2016, has turned into a joy ride, with a nasty end ahead. If Nigel Dodds can swallow his pride to advise that staying in the EU is the best option for Northern Ireland, so can millions others now we all know what really is at stake.
Our Labour Party must start spreading the truth that any Brexit will screw over working class people more than no Brexit at all. The truth ain’t easy. But there’s nothing we can do about how much the Tories have screwed up – except accept it and tell that uneasy truth.
We are where we are. And it ain’t pretty. But even in our Brexit weary nations, six million people have now signed a petition asking for Article 50 to be revoked. It will be debated today. But Labour’s compromise offer must be to allow people to have the final say. I congratulate Jeremy Corbyn on leading the opposition to May’s Brexit timetable. Now he has wrestled it from her, it’s time to turn Labour lock, stock and barrel behind a public vote to ratify any Brexit deal with the ‘not being screwed’ option of no Brexit at all being the default.
Manuel Cortes is the general secretary of the TSSA