We must prepare for catastrophe as negotiations take turn for the worse

BREXIT negotiations have taken a serious turn for the worse. British MPs voted to reject a House of Lords amendment to the EU Withdrawal Bill that would have ensured the Commons would have the chance to block a “no-deal” scenario.

Following the vote, UK Trade Secretary Liam Fox said that his government would now threaten to walk away from talks at any point.

He said the government “had to be able to hold out in our negotiations the prospect of no deal” otherwise the EU would have the upper hand.

This means a hard Irish Border is a real possibility if the nuclear option is triggered.

“The Irish Government should make its preparations for a hard Brexit a reality,” said a senior British Tory source. “With no-deal now back on the cards, you can bet ‘max-fac’ and other nonsensical ideas will re-emerge as solutions to the Border.”

‘Max-fac’, or maximum facilitation, is the use of future technology to ease the flow of goods crossing the Border. Even the minor momentum made involving keeping the UK in a customs union mechanism could now be reversed, the source told the Irish Independent.

Meanwhile, the EU will now only momentarily discuss Brexit next week at what was once billed as a crucial EU summit for EU-UK future relations. But given the complete absence of acceptable solutions to the Irish backstop issue, the matter has been relegated for even more consequential issues facing the European project, such as the migrant crisis and the euro.

Senior sources confirmed that British negotiators were playing for time by “tinkering around” with a document on the Irish backstop that they know is unworkable.

“It’s nine months to B-Day; it’s clear Brexiteers are taking over and want to get to March as soon as possible. Whereas the likes of Fox et al think the EU will just give in to save Ireland and the EU from chaos,” said the source.

It won’t work, and catastrophe will most definitely ensue.