The British Government has been mistaken in its
response to the southern part of Ireland ever since 1921. A sovereign nation
state was created, called initially the Irish Free State, but this sovereignty
did not extend to Northern Ireland. The
war, cease fire and peace treaty that gave rise to the Irish Free State was no
different in principle from those that gave rise to Poland. Irish independence
supporters may have tried to win independence for the whole of Ireland, but
they failed, part of Ireland remained British territory.
The British have always apologised for the existence
of Northern Ireland rather than treat it as an integral part of our country. We
have always seen it as somehow unfair that Northern Ireland is not joined with
the rest of Ireland. For this reason, we have always treated Irish irredentism
as somehow just and the problem of British citizens in Northern Ireland as
something to wish away. No other country in the world behaves in this way
towards either its people or its territory.
At various times we have engaged in negotiations to
trade away Northern Ireland. Churchill wanted to make a deal with De Valera
during the Second World War, Wilson in 1971 proposed a united Ireland in 15
years. At no point have the British ever really thought that Northern Ireland
is ours.
This is a general problem with the British concept of sovereignty.
We treat our state as contingent subject to breakup should the SNP win an
election or Plaid Cymru gain support. No other European country thinks of
itself in this way. France or Poland would go to war to protect an uninhabited village
on the border.
The Irish don’t treat their state as contingent. Those
parts of Ulster that are in the Republic do not have the choice of joining
their fellows in Northern Ireland. It is immaterial if they would want to or
not. They don’t and never would have the choice.
The mistake we made in 1921 was to treat the new Irish
state as if it were still a part of Britain as if they were just errant cousins
who could be won back by kindness. It is for this reason that we created the
Common Travel Area, which allowed Irish citizens to travel to Britain and live
and work here without hinderance. It is for this reason that we allowed them to
vote in our elections.
What we should have done is explain carefully that
independence has consequences and that we would treat them from now on as having
no more rights in Britain than if they were from Japan. We should have erected a
hard border between Northern Ireland and the Free State. We should not have
allowed a currency union and should have treated trade with the Free State no
more favourably than with any other foreign country.
We should have made absolutely clear to Ireland that
we did not recognise their claims on Northern Ireland, and that being on the
same island no more justifies a claim to someone else’s territory in Ireland
than it does in Hispaniola or Borneo. We should have made clear that the only
way the Free State could gain a United Ireland was by winning a war against the
British Army.
When the Troubles began in the 1960s, we should have done
all we could to eradicate any inequality in Northern Ireland, but we should have
made clear to the Republic of Ireland that events in Northern Ireland were none
of their business. We should have made no deals with the Republic and simply
made clear to the terrorists that we would never under any circumstance give up
our territory and that our only goal was to defeat them no matter how long it
took.
The Belfast Agreement conceded victory to the IRA by
enabling them to win their aims by means of democracy. All they had to do was
to win a vote in Northern Ireland and the Republic and they would get their
united Ireland. This brought about peace, but at the price of emphasising the
contingent nature of the UK in a way that no other country would have allowed. It
also gave the Republic leverage in the affairs of Northern Ireland. They waited
patiently and then used their weapon to create the Irish Backstop.
There is an international border between Northern
Ireland and the Republic. The Republic may not like this, but that is what it
is. That it is unmonitored is purely a consequence of the British Government
allowing the Common Travel Area in 1923. One of the consequences of independence
is that internal borders become international borders. But the Republic used
the Belfast Agreement, a peace treaty, that said nothing about borders, to
leverage a potential international border between Northern Ireland and the rest
of the UK. It was disgraceful that this was even considered.
The external border of the EU is the border between
Northern Ireland and the Republic. This is not a problem for Britain but rather
for the Republic of Ireland. The Republic of Ireland could choose to leave the EU
to avoid the consequences of this EU border. It could alternatively choose to
allow EU regulations to apply between the Republic and the rest of the EU. But no,
Ireland was determined to take advantage of a peace treaty that Britain signed
to avoid IRA bombs to further those same IRA aims.
But now just maybe Britain for the first time is going
to assert our sovereignty over Northern Ireland. Maybe we are going to do what
we should have done in 1921. We are going to say that there is going to be no trade
border within the UK, and you can stuff your backstop.
It was always a mistake in 1921 to treat those who had
achieved Irish independence as friends and family. They hated us then. They
hate us in exactly the same way now. Never make a deal with an enemy and
especially never make a deal with an enemy who pretends to be a friend. We must
begin telling Dublin that Northern Ireland is none of your business and keep
making British laws until they understand this simple point.