Reality checks needed on both sides of Brexit

TO paraphrase an old joke: if I were planning to leave the EU I wouldn’t start from here. I don’t imagine that many people, whether Leaver or Remainer, would argue with that but, unfortunately, it is not a joking matter.

The time for Brexiteers and Remainers to be shouting foul at each other has gone. We need a sense of reality, not just in Parliament but across the country.

Remainers (of which I am one) really need to accept that the battle is lost – we will be leaving the EU. It is inconceivable that after spending three years and billions of pounds any Government will simply throw in the towel and rescind Article 50.

Another referendum would probably be no more conclusive than the one in 2016, even if it did go the other way. Even a General Election is unlikely to deliver a clear mandate to either leave or remain.

Brexiteers need to recognise that all the spin in the world cannot disguise the fact that a no-deal Brexit will have a significantly detrimental effect on the UK economy, possibly our security, our standing in the world and will be an existential threat to the UK itself.

If the only substantive issue in the way of a deal is the Ireland backstop, then this needs to be conceded.

If Boris Johnson is so certain that a solution can be found which satisfies the EU’s requirement for border checks between the EU and non-EU countries and the imperative not to have a hard border between the two Irelands, then why not accept the backstop until this is achieved in reality?

The intention was always to have a two-year transition period once we left the EU – surely this issue can be fixed in two years, given the will and resources?

The nonsense in all this is that the one thing that the EU and UK have always been in absolute agreement on is that there must be no return to a hard border across Ireland. If there is a no-deal, this is the one thing that definitely will happen.

Surely Remainers and Brexiteers alike can agree that even the risk of a return of the Troubles in Ireland and an economic downturn across the whole of the UK is price too high. Together, we need to tell our MPs: “Get a deal sorted, even if it takes a bit longer”!

Steve Rogers, Shipley