It is a very sad state of affairs to see the chaos that the United Kingdom is currently facing due to the Brexit conundrum. However, complexities of the situation explain the impasse Prime Minister Theresa May is facing in the parliament.
The root cause of the issue can be traced to the Belfast Agreement or the Good Friday Agreement signed between the British government, political parties of Northern Ireland and Government of Ireland in 1998. It was a peace agreement that brought to end the violence that was taking place in the region. According to this agreement, there cannot be any border posts at the border between Norther Ireland (part of UK) and Republic of Ireland.
When the UK voted to leave the European Union (EU) in 2016, the question over how the border between Northern Ireland and Ireland will be manged has hounded the British PM from the start. The issue is contentious mainly because Republic of Ireland will continue to be a part of EU, while Northern Ireland, being a part of UK, will have to leave the union.
This is the only land border UK shares with the EU. If the UK leaves EU, border posts will have to be set up on the border. However, the terms of Good Friday Agreement state that there cannot be any border posts at the site.
PM May suggested a Irish backstop, under this, even if the UK leaves the EU, the border between the two Irelands will remain open. However, this is opposed by MPs from Northern Ireland on whom the UK PM is dependent to stay in power.
This demand against the Irish backstop is also supported by some MPs of the Conservative Party (UK’s ruling party). The Northern Irish MPs claim that leaving the border open will create a divide between the island of UK and Northern Ireland.
If there are any border control mechanisms set up on the Irish border, it would be in violation of the 1998 peace agreement and there are fears that it may lead to violence making a comeback in the region. May’s Irish backstops seem to be a more credible option but the deal proposing it has been rejected three times so far in the parliament.
Theresa May is currently seeking to extend the exit date to June 20 from May 22. However, as long as her party colleagues are adamant on having a hard border with Ireland (a border with control mechanisms), it seems unlikely that PM May will be able to overcome the impasse.
What needs to be considered by the UK politicians is that their indecision is hurting the UK’s economy very badly. It has already lost 3% of its GDP growth due to it. A no deal Brexit will be a nightmare for the business community. For the sake of its citizens, the UK politicians need to chalk out a exit plan acceptable to all at the earliest.
