Tell Karl his brother is dead wrote:Partridge Iciclebubbles wrote:But it’s absolutely not right that one part of the UK gets a special EU deal while the rest of us suffer.
I don’t want to leave at all. If we have to then every part of the UK should be treated the same. Northern Ireland should either suffer with us, or unify with the Republic.
Do you disagree with any of the following?
NI remains in the single market:
Pros
+ 2 million people in NI benefit directly from single market membership
+ Rest of the UK benefits economically from a back door into the single market
+ Slippery slope leading to possible membership for Scotland, then Wales, then London, then maybe even the rest of England deciding it doesn't want to be left out after all
EDIT: and I can't believe I forgot a really big
+ in the form of this being a probable prerequisite of a softer Brexit for the rest of the UK, in that we will be out with no deal at all if we can't figure this problem out
Cons
- It's in some sense unfair
NI isn't allowed to remain in the single market:
Cons
- Huge losses for businesses that operate on the island of Ireland
- Huge inconvenience for border communities
- Unravelling of the Good Friday Agreement leading to a possible resurgence in violence
Pros
+ At least they are suffering with us
Exactly! It would simultaneously benefit all of the UK and help one of the poorest parts of the UK. What's unworkable about companies setting up offices here?
If we're not all staying in the customs union, the options are either let Northern Ireland be a bit different due to our unique circumstances (which everyone negotiating recognises) and get a soft Brexit for the UK as a whole, or face the disaster of an unworkable hard border in Ireland and a hard Brexit, with NI being one of the places hardest hit (the UK isn't going to progress to an EU trade deal without a border agreement!). There are already many differences in the laws between the different parts of the UK anyway, we're not all treated the same as it is.
Unless people really think someone is going to go against the referendum vote and call the whole thing off, but that's probably the most unrealistic outcome of them all!
Edit: BTW there's roughly a few hundred border crossings along the Irish border, around twice as many border crossings compared to the entire eastern border of the EU:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-40949424If you want border checks coming into and out of Northern Ireland, including through settlements and properties, how do you police this? Block the roads like the military did during the Troubles, or go to the expense of policing all of it? Cutting people legally entitled to Irish citizenship off from their day to day lives, damaging cross-border businesses, delaying access to hospitals etc?