David Allen Green indulges in absurd name-calling when he calls me a tory commentator favouring the British constitution as it was in 1990, when I am on the record as favouring a new British Bill of Rights, devolution and proportional representation. I am, however, always glad when personal remarks of this sort are made as it shows that my critics have no arguments.
His one argument is that the Belfast Agreement dictates a soft border in Ireland. It does not. While it provides for cross-border cooperation, it does not mention a soft border, since it was then taken for granted that Northern Ireland would remain in the EU. The Agreement is primarily concerned with the constitutional status of Northern Ireland, and does not provide either for joint authority or joint sovereignty with Ireland.
What the Agreement does require is equality of respect for both communities. I leave your readers to decide whether the Northern Ireland Protocol has achieved that, when it has been consented to by the nationalist community while the unionist community has refused its consent.
I would like therefore to reiterate the argument in my Daily Telegraph piece that the Protocol is unworkable; but even if it were workable it should be repudiated by the Northern Ireland Assembly when it has the chance to do so in 2024, as provided for by the Protocol, since it unacceptably cuts off one part of the United Kingdom from the rest.
