Quote Originally Posted by TheBlackHorse View Post
... is it more important to uphold 'international law' or to show some enlightened self interest? So far ,I'm unconvinced that any country takes any notice of international law's - Russia, China, USA - (pick any topic you like). So our tweaking of the Withdrawal Agreement re Northern Ireland seems only to have upset the EU (because it gives them an edge under certain circumstances) and the woke Remoaners who choose to be offended. I bet most havn't read the so-called offending sections (clauses 41 - 43, etc). I'm really surprised that no one has used the phrase 'perfidious albion' yet! So, would be lawyers, why shouldn't we look after ourselves. Don't try telling me it's about trust and all that mother jazz ...
The issue of the Irish border is not fundamentally about Brexit. The Northern Ireland agreement is a totally separate international treaty to which the UK is a signatory, guaranteeing no hard border between Northern Ireland and the Irish Republic. The other guarantor alongside the UK and Ireland is the US. If we (or the EU) build a hard border it will do two things, damage our (or their) international credibility, and more importantly risk a return to the troubles in Northern Ireland. The treaty was obviously agreed and signed at a time when Brexit wasn't an issue. The Government hasn't successfully shown how you can avoid a hard border and leave the EU customs union. This is where the rubber hits the road as the withdrawal agreement fudged round it without really addressing the issue.