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You can find the current article at its original source at http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2017/dec/05/uk-brexit-team-is-walking-a-tightrope-to-reach-first-phase-deal
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| UK Brexit team is walking a tightrope to reach first-phase deal | UK Brexit team is walking a tightrope to reach first-phase deal |
| (4 months later) | |
| The British government is walking a tightrope as it seeks to persuade the Democratic Unionist party that it has nothing to fear from the proposed first-phase Brexit deal. | The British government is walking a tightrope as it seeks to persuade the Democratic Unionist party that it has nothing to fear from the proposed first-phase Brexit deal. |
| Ministers are seeking to reassure their parliamentary partners that nothing on offer in Brussels is intended to treat Northern Ireland any differently from the rest of the United Kingdom. | Ministers are seeking to reassure their parliamentary partners that nothing on offer in Brussels is intended to treat Northern Ireland any differently from the rest of the United Kingdom. |
| Excerpts from the draft text spooked the DUP, which feared the language promising “regulatory alignment” with the EU only applied to Northern Ireland and therefore implied divergence from the rest of the UK. | Excerpts from the draft text spooked the DUP, which feared the language promising “regulatory alignment” with the EU only applied to Northern Ireland and therefore implied divergence from the rest of the UK. |
| Inside the EU, both Ireland and Northern Ireland are part of the single market and customs union so share the same regulations and standards, allowing a soft or invisible border between the two. | Inside the EU, both Ireland and Northern Ireland are part of the single market and customs union so share the same regulations and standards, allowing a soft or invisible border between the two. |
| Britain’s exit from the EU – taking Northern Ireland with it – risks a return to a hard or policed border. The only way to avoid this post-Brexit is for regulations on both sides to remain more or less the same in key areas including food, animal welfare, medicines and product safety. | Britain’s exit from the EU – taking Northern Ireland with it – risks a return to a hard or policed border. The only way to avoid this post-Brexit is for regulations on both sides to remain more or less the same in key areas including food, animal welfare, medicines and product safety. |
| Early drafts of the agreement Britain hoped to get signed off on Monday said there would be “no divergence” from EU rules that “support north-south cooperation”, later changed to “continued alignment” in a formulation that appeared to allow for subtle divergences. | Early drafts of the agreement Britain hoped to get signed off on Monday said there would be “no divergence” from EU rules that “support north-south cooperation”, later changed to “continued alignment” in a formulation that appeared to allow for subtle divergences. |
| But it raised new questions about who would oversee it and how disputes might be resolved. It was also clearly still a step too far for the DUP. | But it raised new questions about who would oversee it and how disputes might be resolved. It was also clearly still a step too far for the DUP. |
| The party’s leader in Westminster, Nigel Dodds, told reporters on Tuesday that in the “text that we were shown yesterday morning there was far too much ambiguity and it didn’t nail the issues that need to be nailed down”. | The party’s leader in Westminster, Nigel Dodds, told reporters on Tuesday that in the “text that we were shown yesterday morning there was far too much ambiguity and it didn’t nail the issues that need to be nailed down”. |
| “The government have always been clear about their red lines, but what matters is the text – what matters are the words that are used – and it’s vitally important that the text translates accurately what are the general principles of a political agreement.” | “The government have always been clear about their red lines, but what matters is the text – what matters are the words that are used – and it’s vitally important that the text translates accurately what are the general principles of a political agreement.” |
| As such, verbal assurances from Downing Street will not be enough for the DUP. It must see new language, particularly on the tricky question of what happens to Northern Ireland if the UK does not get the wider trade deal that it hopes will smooth out this issue in the long run. | As such, verbal assurances from Downing Street will not be enough for the DUP. It must see new language, particularly on the tricky question of what happens to Northern Ireland if the UK does not get the wider trade deal that it hopes will smooth out this issue in the long run. |
| But the government’s answer to the DUP’s concern is one that opens a larger can of worms in London. The Brexit secretary, David Davis, made clear to MPs on Tuesday that it was wrong to assume there would only be regulatory alignment for Northern Ireland; he wanted to see regulatory alignment for the whole of the UK. | But the government’s answer to the DUP’s concern is one that opens a larger can of worms in London. The Brexit secretary, David Davis, made clear to MPs on Tuesday that it was wrong to assume there would only be regulatory alignment for Northern Ireland; he wanted to see regulatory alignment for the whole of the UK. |
| This brought instant spluttering from Conservative backbenchers, with Jacob Rees-Mogg demanding “indelible red lines” on the principle of escaping Brussels regulation, not cleaving closer to it. | This brought instant spluttering from Conservative backbenchers, with Jacob Rees-Mogg demanding “indelible red lines” on the principle of escaping Brussels regulation, not cleaving closer to it. |
| “The red line for me is delivering the best Brexit for Britain,” deadpanned Davis in response, a putdown that could return to haunt him. | “The red line for me is delivering the best Brexit for Britain,” deadpanned Davis in response, a putdown that could return to haunt him. |
| The problem is that his idea of regulatory alignment for the UK sounds suspiciously like staying in the single market and customs union, not just to Rees-Mogg, but to everyone else. | The problem is that his idea of regulatory alignment for the UK sounds suspiciously like staying in the single market and customs union, not just to Rees-Mogg, but to everyone else. |
| “The presumption of the discussion was that everything we talked about applied to the whole United Kingdom,” said Davis, before trying to to explain further. “Alignment isn’t harmonisation, it isn’t having exactly the same rules. It is sometimes having mutually recognised rules, mutually recognised inspection, all of that sort of thing as well. And that is what we are aiming for.” | “The presumption of the discussion was that everything we talked about applied to the whole United Kingdom,” said Davis, before trying to to explain further. “Alignment isn’t harmonisation, it isn’t having exactly the same rules. It is sometimes having mutually recognised rules, mutually recognised inspection, all of that sort of thing as well. And that is what we are aiming for.” |
| In other words, what Davis and May are proposing is a rebadging of existing EU rules in a more politically acceptable British guise, seeking “mutual recognition and alignment of standards that does not mean we have the same standards but one that gives similar results”. | In other words, what Davis and May are proposing is a rebadging of existing EU rules in a more politically acceptable British guise, seeking “mutual recognition and alignment of standards that does not mean we have the same standards but one that gives similar results”. |
| Such a wheeze might, just, prove acceptable to the DUP, so long as it is assured that this fall-back situation applies UK-wide. It might also, just, keep on board Dublin and the rest of the EU, who would require such precise policing of this regulatory alignment that it might as well be the same thing. | Such a wheeze might, just, prove acceptable to the DUP, so long as it is assured that this fall-back situation applies UK-wide. It might also, just, keep on board Dublin and the rest of the EU, who would require such precise policing of this regulatory alignment that it might as well be the same thing. |
| The cost of walking this tightrope for Downing Street, however, could well be civil war in the Tory party. | The cost of walking this tightrope for Downing Street, however, could well be civil war in the Tory party. |
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