By Jamie Bryson
Tomorrow, as we enter the final month before winter, the Irish Sea border which the DUP claimed to have removed in February, and then rowed back and claimed would be gone “in the Autumn”, is more present than ever.
In truth, all that has changed is the DUP are now chief implementers of the Irish Sea border (however they try to dress it up) over which they now have complete ownership (as Lord Dodds warned them publicly would be the consequences of accepting the Donaldson Deal on Surrendering the Union) and are engaged in perpetual distraction in the hope the unionist/loyalist community will simply forget about the ongoing constitutional vandalism being facilitated by both the DUP and UUP.
In February Gavin Robinson indignantly took to the pages of the Newsletter, claiming the DUP had secured the removal of the Irish Sea border. As someone who prior to a career in politics was by all accounts a very accomplished Barrister (a pupil of Mr Justice Scoffield no less), that claim- as a matter of law- was always patently ridiculous. I find it inconceivable that someone of Gavin Robinson’s obvious legal acumen could ever have seriously believed either what he said himself, or what he de facto endorsed when he stood beside Jeffrey Donaldson who made claims so outlandish and absurd it turned into some kind of comedy sketch.
It ought to be telling how, in the weeks following the restoration of the Irish Sea border implementing Executive, the DUP’s joint First Minister- herself a Barrister- refused to repeat the claims that the Irish Sea border was gone. It is hardly surprising that even supporters of restoring the Executive, despite the Irish Sea border, were reluctant to put their own credibility on the line to repeat the core claims being made by the Donaldson wing of the party.
At the time, Jim Allister and I were mocked and derided by the Donaldson dealers. It was us who had it all wrong, they claimed. We were ‘dead end unionists’, or so said Paul Givan who was always more than happy to pay the price of Irish Sea border implementation in exchange for Ministerial office. It was also a moment of remarkable arrogance when Donaldson, with Gavin Robinson standing on his shoulder, waved away the reasoned legal opinion of former Attorney General John Larkin KC. It was of some note that the DUP- despite the then leadership being asked by their Parliamentary party to procure one- could not produce one single legal opinion to contradict either what was being said by me and Jim Allister, but more importantly that which was set out clearly and concisely by Mr Larkin.
It is important to remember this was the DUP’s deal, they cannot put it onto the Government. As DUP leader, Jeffrey Donaldson stood at Hillsborough castle beside the Secretary of State and approvingly waved around the deal as if it was the best thing since Moses descended from Mount Sinai with the ten commandments.
We were also told that the DUP had secured a commitment from Labour that they would implement the promises in the deal, if elected (as they obviously subsequently have been). That was as threadbare as every other part of the deal as Labour have in fact further hardened the Irish Sea border, rather than even come close to removing it.
Then, following Jeffrey Donaldson’s departure, Gavin Robinson obviously decided to try- likely in an effort to put the party back together- and gently walk back some of Donaldson’s wildest claims, coincidently I am sure just prior to the general election. However, this was not a full disavowal of the claims, much less any rejection of the utterly worthless Surrendering the Union ‘deal’.
This time, Gavin Robinson claimed the Government would issue a direction to halt all checks and paperwork on goods moving GB-NI and staying in the UK. This, we were to be told, was part of replacing the green lane (of course, the green lane is as present as ever, giving it its original name its not removing it, but rather simply painting it red, white and blue in the hope unionists/loyalists fall for that conjuring trick).
In this regard, the present DUP leader said the Irish Sea border would be “gone in the Autumn”. We just need to, for one moment, leave aside the credibility problems for those who claimed in February the Irish Sea border was gone, to then change and say that it would in fact be the Autumn when it is gone.
On that footing, dealing with the claims at their height, here we are on 1 November and the Irish Sea border far be it from going, is further embedded than ever. There is no decrease in checks, but rather a sharp increase- with more to come.
And, in December, unionist MLAs will validate- by their participation- the removal of cross community consent safeguards, by taking part in the ‘consent’ vote. This will be a visual example of how there is no price the DUP/UUP deem too high in exchange for a seat in the Executive. There is no damage inflicted upon the Union which wouldn’t be tolerated. That’s a very dangerous message which has been sent.
In any event, this isn’t going away, you know. There is no self-respecting unionist/loyalist who will play along, no matter how much the DUP and UUP wish that wasn’t so. They can bury their heads in the sand and gaslight people by pretending they are not now implementers of the subjugation of Northern Ireland’s place in the Union and a fully fledged Irish Sea border, but the truth will always find them out.