UK must heed historic pledges despite Brexit

TONY Blair once noted that “it is not an arrogant government that chooses priorities, it is an irresponsible government that fails to choose”. Where clarity and certainty are so desperately required to end the deadlock on Brexit, the conflicting signals from Theresa May’s government are simply fuelling tensions and uncertainties to the point of negligence.

It hardly matters whether UK Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson was being provocative or just mischievous. Either way, his remarks about a seamless Border based on arrangements between burrows in London, display a frightening lack of awareness as to relationships on these islands. Any wonder that EU chief negotiator Michel Barnier has warned that in the face of “plenty of differences” between the EU and UK, agreement on a Brexit transition remains far from “a sure thing”.

In response to DUP claims that the draft agreement’s expected requirement of “regulatory alignment” on the island of Ireland represents an attack on UK sovereignty, Mr Barnier insisted: “Our responsibility is simply to put into legal language what we, the EU and the UK, agreed in the December joint agreement.” No more or no less. Therefore, a fair representation of facts is required. There is no attempt to distort obligations or stretch commitments. There is merely a need to recognise joint responsibilities. A British exit from the EU does not release it from historic pledges bound to an international agreement. New arrangements with Brussels can expect no less.