Why Boris has got one over on his EU enemies
IT appears it’s game, set and match to Boris Johnson. A blazing row with Angela Merkel and immediate savaging by major EU negotiators is more than he could have hoped for to galvanise the British electorate behind him.
The only thing that might elevate him even further is to be arrested and committed to prison for not ‘begging’ for an extension beyond October 31.
British withdrawal from the EU without agreement and on very hostile terms is now almost a certainty. It will take an enormous EU climbdown to effect a benign result. The outcome could have been entirely different.
If Ireland had not allowed its border with Northern Ireland to be used as a weapon to bludgeon Britain into submission and force surrender by cancellation of Article 50, and had instead acted as an honest and friendly broker to smooth British departure on the best terms possible, the border need never have become an obstacle to satisfactory agreement.
Ireland has been hoodwinked and duped by power-hungry forces in Brussels who, despite not having raised a finger to help during 30 years of horrific carnage, suddenly expressed enormous concern about the Irish peace process. Since prevention of British departure could not be achieved by political or legal means, and the EU was terrified that others might agitate for similar exit if Brexit proved successful, the Irish border was identified as the only means of creating sufficient emotional difficulty and confusion, that Westminster would be forced to abandon its attempt to depart.
Constant suggestion of safeguarding the Good Friday Agreement has been extraordinarily irresponsible. It lends credibility and encouragement to extremists, who can now claim official acceptance that they have a right to renew violence, if whatever sovereign states may or may not agree does not satisfy their purpose.
PADRAIC NEARY, Tubbercurry, Co. Sligo.