Tories threaten partition, once again

Posted by Jim on September 1, 2018

The Tory Brexit campaign is sliding towards a “take it or leave it”
showdown with the EU amid an increasingly bloody-minded approach by
British officials.

There were furious condemnations this week of Tory extremist Jacob
Rees-Mogg after he he said Britain could use “historic arrangements” to
control the Irish population after Brexit.

“There would be our ability, as we had during the Troubles, to have
people inspected,” he said.

“It’s not a border that everyone has to go through every day. But of
course for security reasons during the Troubles, we kept a very close
eye on the border to try and stop gun-running and things like that.”

Nationalist politicians have long warned that the British government is
acting in bad faith in regard to the 1998 Good Friday peace Agreement.

Sinn Fein Assembly member Mairtin O Muilleoir said “Jacob Rees-Mogg and
the Tory Brexiteers have again shown contempt and a complete disregard
for the people of Ireland north and south.

“Anyone labouring under the misapprehension that the Tories care a jot
about the north is living in a fool’s paradise.”

The SDLP’s Claire Hanna branded Rees-Mogg’s remarks as “pig ignorant”.

“It is offensive that a senior politician would use the ‘Troubles’ as
benchmark for solving the border issue,” she said.

“This unguarded answer exposes how empty all the honeyed phrases about
not returning to ‘the borders of the past’ over the last two years
really are.”

There was no denial of the comments by Theresa May or others in the
leadership of the Conservative Party. Instead, Theresa May indicated
that a ‘no deal’ Brexit would “not be the end of the world”, again
infuriating nationalist politicians.

Britain has previously pledged to maintain an open border in Ireland but
has made no progress on agreeing how it would work. The deadline for an
agreement is October, but that looks likely to slip to November. If no
agreement is reached by then the prospect of a no-deal scenario or
‘crash Brexit’ looks increasingly likely.

Last week, ‘technical guidance’ published by the British government
suggested cross-Border businesses should simply contact Dublin for
advice in the event of a no-deal Brexit. This is in line with warnings
that the British simply intend to launch a blame game against Brussels
and Dublin over the return of border checks.

Sinn Fein’s northern leader Michelle O’Neill said the Tories had shown
“absolute contempt and blatant disregard” for the people of the North.
She called for a special London-Brussels meeting to solely deal with the
North.

Party colleague Martina Anderson said it was becoming “clearer by the
day” that the Tories are now actively planning for a no-deal Brexit,
“whether by design or by accident as a result of the fact that they have
no coherent strategy.” She accused Theresa May of “a total lack of
empathy” and “disdain” for those in Ireland.

“It is characteristic of the attitude of Tory Brexiteers, particularly
towards the north of Ireland where the true extent of a no-deal Brexit
will be fell most acutely,” she said.

“Theresa May might not think it’s the end of the world but it will be
the end of many of the rights we take for granted.”

Former Sinn Fein leader Gerry Adams said the British government had
resiled from the ‘backstop’ agreement in December under which it said
the North would remain within the single market and customs union in the
absence of an overall deal.

“The onus therefore is on the Irish government to step up its engagement
with the EU to ensure that Europe sticks to the backstop agreement and
that everything is done to protect the two economies on this island and
in particular the rights of EU citizens in the north,” he said.