The Ireland border debate tells you everything you need to know about the status of the Brexit negotiations - a short story:
1) when EU-UK negotiations began, both sides said that avoiding a hard border was an absolute priority. tl;dr EU: “this is really complicated.” tl;dr UK: “Nah, it’s easy. We just need to be creative. If we repeat 'no border' enough times, there will be no border”
2) Months go by. Nobody comes up with a solution. (spoiler alert: it really is complicated given UK red lines). The UK publishes a paper containing what the government itself describes as 'untested ideas' (i.e. unworkable fantasies and wishful thinking)
3) In Dec. the two sides agree to the principle that absent other proposals, a backstop solution would be needed. It was crystal clear then in tangible terms this would mean in effect Northern Ireland keeping current arrangements for the dozens of affected sectors and issues
4) Over the past 2 months the two sides have been at work. The EU has translated this principle, and the rest of what was agreed in Dec., into a legal text. The UK via its foreign secretary has contributed a metaphor comparing the Irish border to London’s congestion charge
5) The onus of coming up with a solution is on the UK. The UK has set its red lines. And the UK has yet to put forward a workable solution. Both sides agreed that a backstop solution, absent other options, would be needed
6) UK politicians blame the EU for being threatening (reminder: the UK has yet to put forward a solution), many pundits act surprised, and some newspapers will call it an act of aggression
7) In reality, the EU27 are simply trying to force the UK to face up to the reality of the trade offs the government has to make because of the redlines it has imposed on itself. The point is always the same: until these binary decisions are made, the UK is stuck.
8) The core of the problem that May faces is that Brexit is a hard deadline: March 2019. This means ministers will not be able to fudge it or wing it for much longer.
9) The UK strategy so far has been to let the EU propose, and then fold on pretty much everything. This astute approach isn’t applicable to Ireland border nor future relationship where the onus to propose is on the UK
