Thread by @clumperino

I'm reading through the PM's (@BorisJohnson) letter to @eucopresident. It makes some deeply worrying arguments about Northern Ireland, our peace agreement and the impact that Brexit will have on our rights and economic and social lives.

@BorisJohnson @eucopresident To start with, I am no fan of the backstop. I think it does make a fair stab at shoring up the necessary regulatory alignment for north-south cooperation on areas like agri-food, environment and energy, but it is weak on rights guarantees and citizenship.

@BorisJohnson @eucopresident But the reality is that in December 2017 the UK and EU recognised that Brexit posed a threat to our peace settlement and that it was imperative that the B/GFA - the totality of relationships and it's practical outworkings - was safeguarded in the Brexit process.

@BorisJohnson @eucopresident The UK and EU were committed to avoiding a hard border and protecting N/S cooperation.

And in the absence of agreed solutions the UK would maintain full alignment to the EU rules which support N/S cooperation, the all-island economy and the protection of the B/GFA.

@BorisJohnson @eucopresident Up until now, the UK government agreed that regulatory alignment and adherence to those EU rules which supported North-South cooperation were fundamental to ensuring that our peace agreement was safeguarded in Brexit.
See this from May in March 2018.

@BorisJohnson @eucopresident The PM's letter has turned these commitments on their head. He has explicitly rejected the good faith commitments of the UK Govt from the December 2017 report that were designed to protect the B/GFA in all its parts and outworkings.

@BorisJohnson @eucopresident The PM claims to be committed to safeguarding our rights and N/S cooperation and committed to the B/GFA, but suggests that it can be protected in the event of a no deal Brexit.
Civil Society from biz and agrifood to human rights in NI would disagree.
humanrightsconsortium.org/northern-irela…

@BorisJohnson @eucopresident The claim re the backstop as non-democratic is interesting. It's a very specific interpretation, namely that safeguarding the B/GFA locks rUK into having a relationship with the EU...
Is the PM suggesting that our peace agreement shld be revoked on the whim of the UK Govt too?

@BorisJohnson @eucopresident And I'm not sure the UK Govt ever WANTED NI to have specific representation in the EU after Brexit...
From a rights perspective, this is something the Irish Govt could step in to address - eg, by redesigning their additional MEPs post Brexit to NI. But they are loath to do so.

@BorisJohnson @eucopresident The PM's assertion about the need for the UK to diverge its regulatory standards post Brexit is precisely why the backstop protocol exists... To ensure that as the UK diverges the B/GFA and all its outworkings (including N/S cooperation) are safeguarded.

@BorisJohnson @eucopresident And from here we come on to the most worrying part of the PM's letter to Tusk - the willful misinterpretation of the B/GFA and instead using our peace settlement as a political football in some macho version of a NO DEAL Brexit ultimatum.

@BorisJohnson @eucopresident The PM appears to be endorsing an expansive interpretation of the 'consent' principle in the B/GFA.

@BorisJohnson @eucopresident So what does the B/GFA say about consent?

A 'right of self-determination ... to bring about a united Ireland ... subject to the agreement and consent of a majority of the people of NI'.

It has a very specific meaning.

@BorisJohnson @eucopresident And what does this mean in the context of Brexit?

Well according to the @UKSupremeCourt, it 'neither regulated any other change in the constitutional status of NI nor required the consent of a majority of the people of NI to the withdrawal of the UK from the EU.'

@BorisJohnson @eucopresident @UKSupremeCourt It is possible to take a more expansive interpretation to the 'consent principle' in the B/GFA. But if you embark down the road of requiring the consent of the majority of people in NI to every constitutional change, then it questions the legitimacy of the Brexit vote in NI.

@BorisJohnson @eucopresident @UKSupremeCourt So, the PM is looking for creative and flexible solutions...

1- replacing the backstop with alternative arrangements?

But this is already built into the backstop and if you believed it was a possible solution, you'd sign up knowing that it would never have to be implemented!

@BorisJohnson @eucopresident @UKSupremeCourt 2- what if these alternative arrangements aren't in place? The UK Govt will give commitments...

But isn't the backstop protocol precisely the kind of legal commitment to come into effect if these proposed unspecified alternative arrangements don't work?!

@BorisJohnson @eucopresident @UKSupremeCourt The PM claims his letter is proposing 'solutions'. But it is not clear to me what solutions he is suggesting... Other than get rid of the backstop altogether.

What IS clear though, is that this letter is not really about the backstop at all.

@BorisJohnson @eucopresident @UKSupremeCourt This letter from PM @BorisJohnson to @eucopresident is not about the backstop protocol.

It's about playing politics with our peace agreement.

He is using the very real threat to our rights and our economic and social lives from a no deal Brexit as leverage.

@BorisJohnson @eucopresident @UKSupremeCourt But the real question is what is this letter leverage for?

It doesn't propose any actual solutions.

It's about the appearance of negotiating without any actual negotiating.

It's about facilitating a No Deal Brexit on 31 October - and that would be a disaster for NI.