Brexit chaos: Fears we are moving to a hard border

AS DAVIS RESIGNS ...

IRELAND is moving closer to a hard border, it is feared, after Boris Johnson became the second senior UK minister to quit over Brexit yesterday.

The former foreign secretary sneered at Theresa May’s attempts to find a middle way as ‘polishing a turd’ and a ‘semi-Brexit’.

‘The dream is dying, suffocated by needless self-doubt,’ his resignation statement declared. There are now fears that a Tory hardline rebellion could lead to a challenge against Mrs May as prime minister, and even an election, resulting in a no-deal Brexit.

This would mean the return of a hard border here and devastation for Ireland’s economy.

The British cabinet had met in the prime minister’s country home of Chequers on Friday evening, and all of the ministers signed up to what looked like a soft-Brexit deal. But that began to unravel early yesterday morning when Brexit minister David Davis resigned.

Mrs May’s problems were compounded by the resignation of Mr Johnson – and then, late yesterday evening, her own parliamentary private secretary, Chris Green, who announced his departure in a tweet that said ‘Brexit must mean Brexit’.

He added: ‘The direction the negotiations have been taking have suggested that we will not really leave the EU, and the conclusion and statements following the Chequers summit confirmed my fears.

‘I recognise that delivering Brexit is challenging. However, I had hoped at tonight’s meeting [of Tory MPs last night] that there would be some certainty that my fears were unfounded, but instead, they have been confirmed.’

Earlier, Mr Davis blamed Mrs May’s ‘softly-softly approach’ to Europe for his decision to quit.

The resignations of two cabinet ‘big beasts’ have sparked the fears of a potential leadership challenge in the Tory party, which could lead to a hard Brexit, should a firm Brexiteer – such as Mr Davis, Mr Johnson or Jacob Rees-Mogg – take over as prime minister.

The Government here will not comment on the internal workings of the UK cabinet, but Fianna Fáil has warned that the developments are of ‘grave concern’. Labour senator Aodhán Ó Riordáin summed up the feeling in Leinster House yesterday, when he tweeted: ‘How is any Irish Government supposed to negotiate with this circus?’

Ministers are focused on getting London to produce its long awaited Brexit white paper and intensifying negotiations ahead of the crucial European Council summit in October, at which all outstanding issues, including the border, have to be agreed.

‘There’s still a lot of work to do, particularly from the British side. Time is running out,’ Taoiseach Leo Varadkar said.

‘The commitments the UK has already signed up to must be translated into the withdrawal agreement and we need to intensify efforts on all outstanding issues, especially the protocol on Ireland and Northern Ireland.’

The Taoiseach added that issues affecting the British cabinet were ‘a matter for the prime minister’. But there is a certain nervousness in Government over how the drama will unravel in the coming days.

‘We will see how things pan out over the next 24 hours, but from an Irish Government perspective at the moment, it’s very much “stick to the plan”,’ one high-level source said.

Tánaiste and Foreign Affairs Minister Simon Coveney has welcomed a commitment by Mrs May to produce her white paper by Thursday, despite speculation that it could be delayed by another week. ‘We

‘Negotiating with this circus’

welcome her commitments in the Commons... pledging a white paper on Thursday with her government’s revised position on exiting the EU,’ his spokesman said.

But Fianna Fáil has ‘grave concerns’ about the latest developments, with the border question still unresolved and an October deadline fast approaching.

‘Whilst the resignations of David Davis and Boris Johnson are matters for the UK government and the Conservative Party, it is nevertheless a cause of grave concern,’ the party’s Brexit spokeswoman, Lisa Chambers, said.

‘It is imperative these resignations do not completely derail the strategy agreed on Friday in Chequers, the detail of which is due to be elaborated on in the white paper. This was scheduled to be published this week, and despite the events of [yesterday], every effort must be made to ensure that it is published and that negotiations continue as planned.’

She urged the Government to

step up its preparations for a nightmare ‘no-deal’ scenario, saying it could not ‘assume that the UK will adopt a more reasoned and cohesive approach to Brexit than it otherwise has to date’.

European Council president Donald Tusk showed scant regard for the departed UK ministers and expressed a desire for Brexit to follow them out the door.

‘Politicians come and go but the problems they have created for people remain,’ he said, ‘I can only regret that the idea of Brexit has not left with Davis and Johnson. But... who knows?’

Mrs May told other EU countries that the chances of a no-deal Brexit would increase if their stance toward Britain’s departure from the EU did not soften.

She told the House of Commons the deal on offer would mean ‘continued free movement, continued payment of vast sums every year to the EU for market access, a continued obligation to follow the vast bulk of EU law, no independent trade policy, with no ability to strike our own trade deals around the world’.

She added: ‘I firmly believe this would not honour the referendum result. So if the EU continues on this course there is a risk it could lead to no deal. This would most likely be a disorderly no deal.’

Mrs May, who campaigned for Remain during the Brexit referendum, is seen in Dublin as favouring a softer Brexit than the majority of her Tory peers.