I happened to read recently the text of a speech given by Bill Wiggin MP, to the House of Commons on December 6 in respect of Brexit. I would like to point out some issues I have with our parliamentary representative’s attitude to Brexit.
The first is that he seems to believe that leaving the EU with no deal would not negatively impact on the British economy. This is astonishing, given that most economists predict a catastrophic effect. Britain will not be able to trade with other countries as it does now, that is a fact. WTO rules means that Britain will have to accept and apply tariffs equally across the board and, crucially, even though it is trading with countries like the USA right now, it is not under WTO rules.
The second issue is regarding the backstop and the possibility of there being a return to a hard border in Ireland. Mr Wiggin actually suggests in his speech that it should be up to the DUP to decide what happens in this case. It's as if he is not aware that this is an international border, and will possibly become a border between two trading blocs. There is an international peace treaty in respect of this border, one of the purposes of which is to ensure that one party alone, let alone one country, cannot decide what happens in this area. His remarks display either ignorance or indifference. Neither case is comforting.
Elizabeth Connolly
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