Northern Ireland's future at risk without post-Brexit customs deal, says Hain

[James James]

"Tuesday 5th September 2017"

https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2017/sep/05/northern-ireland-post-brexit-customs-deal-lord-peter-hain

"Northern Ireland's future at risk without post-Brexit customs deal, says Lord Hain"

Former secretary of state to tell House of Lords that government’s position on Irish border is "delusional and contradictory"

"Peter Hain says the government’s way of trying to "square the circle" of Northern Ireland is to "pretend that the circle doesn’t exist"."

Quote...

The future of Northern Ireland after Brexit can only be secured if it remains in the customs union, a former secretary of state will tell the House of Lords on Tuesday.

The Labour peer Peter Hain, who as Northern Ireland secretary helped steer the peace process when the IRA was decommissioning its arms, will tell the Lords that the government’s position on Northern Ireland is “delusional, contradictory and potentially very damaging”.

Lord Hain told the Guardian that the government’s negotiating strategy in Brussels was incompetent.

He was particularly scathing about its recently published position paper on Northern Ireland and Ireland, which suggests that an “invisible” border could be maintained if the EU agrees to waive checks on small businesses providing goods and services, including dairy and meat products.

He said the government knew that this was “pie in the sky” because EU law would require Ireland to have checks to prevent products such as hormone-injected beef or chlorinated chicken from the US from making its way into the EU.

“It seems that the government’s favoured way to … square this particular circle is to pretend that the circle didn’t exist,” he will say.

“It is in effect saying to the EU and Ireland in particular: ‘As part of the divorce settlement you can have the border. Do what you like with it. The Irish border will be your customs union frontier.’”

He also believes that the government’s position is contradictory. On the one hand it wants to control the border to stop rogue immigrants, criminals and terrorists, but on the other they can come in via a back door through a porous Ireland.

He says Brexit is jeopardising £200m worth of funding under the EU peace programme, which finances cross-border initiatives especially in border communities.

“These thorny and intractable issues would not arise around the border … if we remained in the customs union …

In my view the only way of resolving the border conundrum is for Northern Ireland to be within the same customs union and single market as the Republic: either Northern Ireland alone or preferably the whole of the UK,” he will tell peers.

Etcetera....

[James James]

"7th September, 2017"

http://www.irishnews.com/news/politicalnews/2017/09/07/news/eu-willing-to-offer-northern-ireland-a-different-brexit-deal-to-the-rest-of-the-uk-1130497/

"EU willing to offer Northern Ireland a different Brexit deal to the rest of the  U.K."

Quote...

The European Union is willing to offer Northern Ireland a different Brexit deal to the rest of the UK, papers seen by the BBC suggest.

The document however say the onus to sort out the border problem "remains on the UK".

The EU papers insist, according to reports, that nothing in Britain's withdrawal deal should affect Ireland's place in the single market and customs union.

The UK should take responsibility for finding a "unique solution" so people can continue to cross the Irish border to work, study and receive medical treatment.

The documents propose allowing people to continue to cross the Irish border to work, study and receive medical treatment, it was reported.

And they are understood to float the idea of specific commitments to be written into the departure deal to protect cross-border co-operation in areas like health, education, transport and fishing.

Details will be published by the EU's chief negotiator Michel Barnier later.

     *
Included in that report is this BBC television interview...

"No deal on Brexit would be 'utter and complete disaster' - BBC Newsnight"

"In an interview with Emily Maitlis, former head of the civil service Lord Kerslake said...

failure to reach a Brexit deal with the EU would be "an utter and complete disaster for this country".

https://tinyurl.com/ycevodju

He's making some very fundamental and informed and non partisan statements about the real nature of the British economy and the real nature of breaksit in relation to Britain.

[James James]

This topic, is very much related to this one...

http://www.belfastforum.co.uk/index.php/topic,70253.0.html

[James James]

This topic, is very much related to this one...

http://www.belfastforum.co.uk/index.php/topic,70252.0.html

[JackM]

The EU is starting to wilt. They know full well the UK will leave the EU irrespective of the lack of any deal between Northern Ireland and anyone else. Wee `Leo` knows only too well. The lack of agreement between the UK and the ROI will spell disaster for the ROI. How will they continue to ship 90% of goods destined for the EU through the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, as they currently do, without incurring punitive trade tariffs ? 

[jjmack]

The EU is starting to wilt. They know full well the UK will leave the EU irrespective of the lack of any deal between Northern Ireland and anyone else. Wee `Leo` knows only too well. The lack of agreement between the UK and the ROI will spell disaster for the ROI. How will they continue to ship 90% of goods destined for the EU through the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, as they currently do, without incurring punitive trade tariffs ? 

 

[James James]

The point though is, that it's not the Irish Prime Minister who is saying that, it's a former very senior British civil servant and present member of the Lords who is saying that, and the U.K. isn't negotiating the terms of a breaksit deal with the Irish Government, it's negotiating that deal with the E.U. and that deal won't be offered dependent on what the U.K. wants to be offered, it'll be offered, if it's offered at all, on the basis of what the E.U. is prepared to offer.

[woodvale]

Peter Hain the obnoxious terrorist from South Africa. He wrote a letter while he was secretary for Northern Ireland. Stating that Innocent victims of the provo cowards should "Forget" what happened to them7n forget the past and "move on" I would like to know how people who have lost eyes,legs,arms etc are supposed to do that. Or the families who lost their loved ones in the many atrocities. When Brexit comes Ulster is part of the uk.The border should have checkpoints etc. The likes of Terrorist Hain can like it or lump it.

[Hairoil777]

Peter Hain the obnoxious terrorist from South Africa. He wrote a letter while he was secretary for Northern Ireland. Stating that Innocent victims of the provo cowards should "Forget" what happened to them7n forget the past and "move on" I would like to know how people who have lost eyes,legs,arms etc are supposed to do that. Or the families who lost their loved ones in the many atrocities. When Brexit comes Ulster is part of the uk.The border should have checkpoints etc. The likes of Terrorist Hain can like it or lump it.

Yes ... disgusting, treacherous excuse for a man.. not unlike Corbyn and mcdonnel.

[James James]

Peter Hain the obnoxious terrorist from South Africa. He wrote a letter while he was secretary for Northern Ireland. Stating that Innocent victims of the provo cowards should "Forget" what happened to them7n forget the past and "move on" I would like to know how people who have lost eyes,legs,arms etc are supposed to do that. Or the families who lost their loved ones in the many atrocities. When Brexit comes Ulster is part of the uk.The border should have checkpoints etc. The likes of Terrorist Hain can like it or lump it.

As it does at present ?,... and as it has had for many years. ? All of that post, in terms of breaksit,... is a complete and totally irrelevant nonsense.

[jjmack]

Peter Hain the obnoxious terrorist from South Africa. He wrote a letter while he was secretary for Northern Ireland. Stating that Innocent victims of the provo cowards should "Forget" what happened to them7n forget the past and "move on" I would like to know how people who have lost eyes,legs,arms etc are supposed to do that. Or the families who lost their loved ones in the many atrocities. When Brexit comes Ulster is part of the uk.The border should have checkpoints etc. The likes of Terrorist Hain can like it or lump it.

Yes indeed, the perma tanned  alleged bank robber and terrorist appeaser Hain is not exactly a fan of Brexit. Lol He saw nothing wrong with bombs being placed in public areas like supermarkets and train stations in South Africa. He still thinks Tony Blair is the bees knees (says it all really) I listened to this buffoon on Radio Ulster last week and of course everyone is out of step apart from him. He is a 'scaremonger', nothing else. Not so much a 'has been ', more a 'never was'. If he was a chocolate he would eat himself. Another whinger who cannot accept that which has already been decided. He needs to get over it, move on and enjoy his retirement.    .   r  

[JackM]

Hain has had his 15 minutes and what a wasted 15 minutes it was. lol   ~        Another one who preaches Democracy when it suits. 

[Garnier]

Hain has done nothing here other than join the ever swelling ranks of those who like to inflate their already puffed up egos by listing the complexities of an extremely delicate and potentially, 'explosive'  problem.
Like all negative egomaniacal narcissists he has not accompanied his perception of the issue with his well thought out proposals to overcome the apparent present inertia.
His pointless outburst remains no more than meaningless political grandstanding as we all know the problems, it's solutions we're seeking.
My opinion is that the success of the Brexit vote was a surprise to all, even the Brexiteers,  but there are those 'real' people who have dedicated their lives to confronting the mammoth problems that the vote produced so the blustering braggarts such as Hain can get a free ride and sit in their Ivory Towers spewing out their meaningless arrogant drivel.
What we need now are positive proposals to help resolve the existing catalogue of problems which a short sighted dimwit on a galloping horse could see from a mile off.
The fact that Hain's arrogance and insolent dismissal of the physical and emotional suffering of 1000s of our kith and kin has little if anything to do with the problems which the Brexit vote created does not in any way detract from the accuracy of the apt description.
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[James James]

No they most certainly aren't,...and I never said that they were,... that's your misinterpretation and misrepresentation of what I really did say,... but in terms of breaksit and the future border arrangements that will or may result in,... the recent Ulster civil war is of no relevance to that issue.

The border arrangements in relation to breaksit is a mainly economic and administrative issue,... it isn't a post conflict related issue, and that post conflict aspect of the border arrangements has already been dealt with during the peace process negotiations.

That politician's past claimed activities aren't the subject of this thread either, and don't have even the slightest relevance to the possible effects of breaksit on the Irish border,... and he's now a former Government Minister and a present member of the House of Lords.

[Hairoil777]

No they most certainly aren't,...and I never said that they were,... that's your misinterpretation and misrepresentation of what I really did say,... but in terms of breaksit and the future border arrangements that will or may result in,... the recent Ulster civil war is of no relevance to that issue.

The border arrangements in relation to breaksit is a mainly economic and administrative issue,... it isn't a post conflict related issue, and that post conflict aspect of the border arrangements has already been dealt with during the peace process negotiations.

That politician's past claimed activities aren't the subject of this thread either, and don't have even the slightest relevance to the possible effects of breaksit on the Irish border,... and he's now a former Government Minister and a present member of the House of Lords.

Your the one mentioned  ' HAIN '