Brexit

[Bofferbrauer2]

NightlyPoe said:

Bofferbrauer2 said:

Removing the Backstop would automatically lead to a hard border in Ireland anyway. The Backstop was the British solution to avoid a hard border there, so removing it without replacing it with something else doesn't solve the problem at all, it ensures the problem.

That's simply incorrect.  The backstop doesn't come into effect until 2021 at the earliest in the case of future negotiations faltering.  Strip it out of May's deal and nothing changes in the immediate future while the two sides continue negotiating the broader agreement during the transition period.

There's no "automatic" hard border.  Neither side even wants a hard border.  And all Britain is asking for is an expiration date on the backstop so they won't be permanently entangled.  In the end, that's a bare minimum for a country to demand in any negotiations.  It's basic sovereignty.

That's where you got it all wrong.

The reason it would only come into effect in 2021 is that during the transition period the UK would effectively still be in the customs union, hence no need for the backstop until then. Without the transition period the backstop would have come into effect the moment the UK would leave the EU with a deal. Take it out and there would be a hard border as soon as the transition period ends - and that's simply unacceptable for the EU and Ireland, but apparently not for hardcore brexiteers. And considering how everything is going in Parliament, I doubt they could vote on another way to keep the border open until then.

Nobody wants a hard border? I heard that one before:

"Niemand hat die Absicht eine Mauer zu errichten!" (Translation: Nobody wants to erect a wall!) GDR State Council Walter Ulbricht, June 15 1961, weeks before the Berlin wall started to be built.

That's what Reese-Moog and his ERG are proclaiming, while doing everything in their might to avoid the one solution there is right now to have an open border there. They don't like the Backstop? That's totally okay, but then they should come with workable alternatives instead of just being naysayers. The problem is, apart from a reunification of Ireland, which would remove the problem altogether but is understandably unacceptable for the UK, there's not much else that can be done.