The Division Over Brexit Raises The Spectre Of A Possible Dissolution

Brexit aggravates festering feuds and ancient fault lines within the UK, raising the spectre of its possible dissolution

- Anita Pratap

Once upon a time, Great Britain ruled the seven seas. Now it is ruled by seven Cs: compromise, customs, consent, competition, cleverness, communications and commerce.

Prima facie, Prime Minister Boris Johnson grabbed a Brexit deal with the European Union from the jaws of defeat, in the nick of time. Fans hail his deal as “brilliant”; opponents say it is a devious compromise, rehashing an old rejected arrangement. His predecessor Theresa May had worked on this proposal, which was first offered by the EU in February 2018. Said political researcher Tom Kibasi, “Not for the first time, a man has taken credit for a woman’s work.”

But May subsequently discarded this proposal because it undermined the UK’s unity and integrity: the UK exits the EU, but Northern Ireland remains within the EU’s customs union. One nation, two systems. May had said, “No UK prime minister can agree to this.” But Johnson did. Northern Ireland’s Democratic Unionist Party that props up Johnson’s minority government felt betrayed. Johnson was “too eager by far to get a deal at any cost”, accused DUP’s deputy leader Nigel Dodds.

Johnson has repeatedly avowed to take the UK out of the EU by October 31. While May looked increasingly isolated during her tenure, Johnson appears like Robin Hood with his merry band of Brexiteer faithfuls spinning a communications yarn about his “simply superb” deal. Last year, Tory Brexiteer Jacob Rees-Mogg mockingly dismissed the “one nation, two system” proposal as “completely cretinous, impractical, bureaucratic and a betrayal of common sense”. Now Rees-Mogg says, “there’s a line from Churchill saying he’d often had to eat his own words and he found it a nourishing diet.”