Boris Johnson and I agreed on Northern Ireland. What happened to that good faith?
In October 2019 I met Boris Johnson in the Wirral. It was an appropriately “neutral” venue, and I was happy to meet the prime minister in the north-west of England. At the time, controversy surrounded the backstop, which the European Union had negotiated with the former prime minister Theresa May. This mechanism was designed to prevent a hard border on the island of Ireland, and to protect Ireland’s place in the EU single market while respecting Northern Ireland’s place in the UK’s internal market. It would have kept the whole of the United Kingdom close to the European single market on regulations and customs rules, thus removing the need for many of the checks between Britain and Northern Ireland that are currently required.
May’s commitment to the union was so strong and genuine that she was willing to opt for a “soft” Brexit to protect it. I was keen to hear whether Johnson had any suggestions that could resolve the impasse, and perhaps develop into an alternative to the backstop. We had a very good meeting, much of it conducted in private, one-on-one. We both wanted a deal. I felt that we understood each other’s needs and red lines. A crucial point was democratic consent: we both agreed that only the Northern Ireland assembly should be allowed to revokeany solution that we agreed.
Immediately following the meeting, we both spoke publicly about having reached a “pathway towards an agreement”. This pathway led ultimately to the protocol on Ireland and Northern Ireland, a vital component in the “oven-ready” Brexit deal that the prime minister used to secure his 80-seat majority in the general election that followed.
Since then, Brexit has taken place, and the protocol is now part of a legally binding international
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