DAILY MAIL COMMENT: Why Rishi Sunak would rue selling out Unionism
Like a tightrope walker without a safety net, Rishi Sunak tries to inch his way towards a solution to the Northern Ireland protocol.
Progress is slow, and the way ahead remains fraught with danger. But he must keep his nerve and persevere.
The protocol was always a chimera, necessitating customs checks on goods travelling from Great Britain to Northern Ireland, thereby creating a virtual border in the Irish Sea.
A bad situation was made far worse by the nit-picking bureaucracy insisted on by Brussels, which tied British firms in an expensive tangle of red tape.
The Democratic Unionists understandably saw the protocol as undermining Northern Ireland’s position within the UK and, as a result, withdrew from the Stormont Assembly. For more than a year there has been no devolved government.
DAILY MAIL COMMENT: Like a tightrope walker without a safety net, Rishi Sunak tries to inch his way towards a solution to the Northern Ireland protocol
The message from Downing Street now is that a deal is close. Brussels has agreed to end the pettifoggery by creating green and red channels for goods coming in – green for those destined for Northern Ireland only that require little or no paperwork, red for those in transit to destinations within the EU, which would need more.
This goes some way to appeasing the DUP, but they have other objections, not least the EU’s insistence that the European Court of Justice should be the final arbiter of any trade disputes.
Unless there is a system of independent mediation it’s hard to see the DUP coming on board, as it would leave them being treated differently to the rest of the UK.
If they reject the deal, large numbers of Tory backbenchers will follow suit. The only way Mr Sunak could then force it through would be with opposition support.
Labour would be happy to oblige – for two reasons. Firstly, it holds Unionism in contempt and longs for a united Ireland. Secondly, it wants to see the whole of the UK back in the EU’s ambit, and this could form the thin end of that wedge.
Were the PM unwise enough to go down this path, however, his own party would never forgive him.
And if the European Court retained any remit over Northern Ireland, the concept of taking back control would be rendered meaningless. Mr Sunak must make independent arbitration of trade rows an absolute red line.
It would be an exaggeration to say the DUP has a veto over this deal. But riding roughshod over their legitimate concerns could be political suicide for Mr Sunak. He must tread carefully.
Putting patients last
How sad that junior doctors from the British Medical Association should describe their decision to stage a three-day strike next month as ‘a giant step forward’.
For all their self-serving cant about ‘having no choice’, they have taken a conscious decision to put patients’ lives at risk in pursuit of a 30 per cent pay claim.
In refusing to discuss this totally unrealistic demand, they accuse the Government of being ‘reckless’. If they want to see a real example of recklessness, they should look in the mirror.
DAILY MAIL COMMENT: How sad that junior doctors from the British Medical Association should describe their decision to stage a three-day strike next month as ‘a giant step forward’
WFH holds us back
The Resolution Foundation offers sensible suggestions on how to get the economically inactive back to work – providing support and incentives to keep mothers, older workers and those with disabilities in their jobs or help them find others.
But one of the biggest impediments to growth is the fact that so many employees are still working from home. Our economic recovery will take flight only once white-collar Britain returns to the office. Ministers could start the process by getting their own civil servants back to Whitehall.
DAILY MAIL COMMENT: One of the biggest impediments to growth is the fact that so many employees are still working from home (file image)
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