The Irish question

Owen Paterson, a former secretary of state for Northern Ireland, argued this week in the Guardian that the UK could leave the customs union, break free from EU rules, and still avoid a hard border on the island of Ireland.

The problem with this claim is that the logic of a hard Brexit means hard borders. The EU is the world’s most advanced legal, technical and institutional environment for seamless border management. As Brexiteers well know, this has entailed common rules and coordinated systems. Paterson’s claims rest on the assumption that the UK can rip up the terms and conditions but stay in the club.

www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/oct/14/northern-ireland-hard-brexit-hard-border-owen-paterson

Anyone who has never been to Ireland and does not understand the problem of the Irish border should watch this-

www.youtube.com/watch?v=U1YFWGSOw_A&vl=en

North Down MP Lady Sylvia Hermon has said she may have to rethink her support for Theresa May on Brexit if the Prime Minister accepts the DUP's call for her to remove the controversial backstop from her proposed UK/EU withdrawal agreement.

Speaking on BBC Radio Ulster's Inside Politics programme, the independent MP said the Prime Minister did not have the power to remove the backstop from the withdrawal agreement.

She said the backstop is there "to protect peace".

"We have enjoyed peace for 20 years. The Prime Minister was formerly the Home Secretary. She well knows we cannot afford to have a hard border on the island of Ireland."

www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/northern-ireland/sylvia-hermon-prime-minister-may-risks-my-support-if-she-caves-in-37750571.html

Decisions based on fear of terrorism. We have a very fragile peace here.