Maajid Nawaz: Brexiteers Have Only Achieved What They Were Campaigning Against

17 November 2018, 14:48 | Updated: 17 November 2018, 14:58

Brexiteers have achieved the opposite of what they campaigned for, says Maajid, after the draft Withdrawal Agreement sets out the possibility of creating a customs border between Northern Ireland and the rest of the UK.

Theresa May's draft Withdrawal Agreement set out plans for a "backstop" arrangement in the event the UK and EU can't negotiate a trade deal to resolve the issue of the Irish border.

The backstop would involve a temporary customs union encompassing not just Northern Ireland but the whole of the UK.

But Maajid warns that a trade deal where Northern Ireland is a different customs arrangement to the rest of the UK would create a hard border within the UK.

"If there is a hard border between mainland Britain and Northern Ireland, and Northern Ireland remains part of the Customs Union in any final status, you've effectively broken up the United Kingdom," he said.

"Brexiteers who have championed the cause of British political sovereignty would have brought about the dissolution of this union and therefore would have inflicted a terminal blow to the sovereignty of this country which is everything, to give you the benefit of the doubt, that you were campaigning against when you voted for Brexit."

"None of the current options imagined, whether it's a no deal, a Norway model, a Canada plus model, or indeed Theresa May's fudge solution.

"None of them solve the Irish border question.

"The reason Brexiteers are currently rejecting Theresa May's fudge is precisely because of the Irish border question, except none of the solutions on offer resolve the very thing that people are upset about."