
By Jamie Bryson
The comments by DUP leader Arlene Foster have again re-ignited debate around the Belfast Agreement.
It is positive that the DUP are coming around to articulating the arguments put forward by a number of unionists for many years, namely that the Belfast Agreement is not a holy writ, but rather a political agreement that can be altered or amended- in the form of the Northern Ireland Act 1998- by a simple majority in Parliament.
Of course nationalism cling to the agreement because it is their cherished Trojan horse, a blue print for all-Ireland harmonisation and the de-britification of Northern Ireland. At its core the Belfast Agreement seeks to neutralise expressions of Britishness, whilst amplifying Irishness as part of the perverse ‘spirit’ of the agreement.
The parity of esteem ‘spirit’ of the agreement creates the illusion that Northern Ireland has some form of hybrid British-Irish status, allowing nationalists to live in a fools utopia of believing that Northern Ireland is essentially British and Irish. It isn’t. The lawful status of Northern Ireland is very clear where it matters, and that is within the Northern Ireland Act 1998. Sovereignty resides with Parliament, and Parliament is sovereign.
Despite that, the fools utopia created by the Belfast Agreement allowed nationalism the tools to develop all-Ireland harmonisation within the context of the UK and RoI both being member states of the European Union, and thus tied together by the Customs Union and Single Market. Brexit changed all that, regardless of how some people- even Brexiteers- refuse to accept that reality. The political text of the Belfast Agreement, which created the ‘spirit’ from which flows the fool’s utopia of harmonisation, is incompatibale with Brexit. However, the legislation flowing from the agreement, the Northern Ireland Act 1998, is entirely compatible- because it deals with the reality that Northern Ireland is a sovereign part of the United Kingdom. Not one line of the 1998 Act would be altered by Brexit.
It is bizarre that the British people are expected to tip-toe around the constitutional reality, lest we offend those whose desire it is to mutilate Northern Ireland’s position within the United Kingdom, and who cynically see Brexit as an opportunity to annex us of from the rest of the union.
It is equally bizarre that those who are the most ardent defenders of the Belfast Agreement- the ‘progressive Europeans’ and nationalists (often one and the same)- are the very same people that are ferociously doing all in their power to override the democratic will of the British people. Their latest idea is for a ‘people’s vote’- that is a rather clever linguistic ploy designed to manipulate people into thinking that there is something democratic and noble about their campaign. In reality it is simply a strategic tool in the frantic campaign of the defeated remainers, who are doing all in their power to thwart democracy. Put simply, they want to vote, and vote again, until such times as they get a result to their liking. It is an affront to democracy and more akin to North Korea!
One need only look at the increasingly erratic and obsessive Andrew Adonis, an unelected pet project of Blair Inc. He cries out for a ‘people’s vote’, despite himself being unelected. Perhaps we should have a people’s vote on the grand titles bestowed upon him by Blair.
Andrew Adonis is a daily example of the erratic rage consuming the Remain elite- the self-appointed elite that are furious the ‘little’ people would dare to express their democratic will in a manner inconsistent with their utopian ideals.
Mr Adonis staggers around like an inebriated man, struggling to accept the reality of an impending divorce. He foams at the mouth shouting ‘but don’t you know who I am’, unable to comprehend that people passing by nudge their friends, nod towards him and instantly understand the reason for the divorce.
His behaviour in relation to Brexit isn’t all that different than those who cling to a utopian ‘spirit’ of a failed political agreement.