Why Northern Ireland is the other British 'exit' that Brexit will advance

National Post, 25 October 2019

In the midst of the howling, the key result will be a Britain more autonomous from Europe, and a Northern Ireland less tied to the U.K.

LONDON — It is fascinating and distressing to watch. The great Westminster political tradition is shredding itself in a fit of impotent rage as it flounders toward a Brexit that a majority of members of Parliament do not want yet which the people voted for. Yet in the midst of the howling, the key result will be a Britain more autonomous from Europe, and a Northern Ireland less tied to the United Kingdom. The latter is the most remarkable, as it represents another step in Britain’s century-long disentanglement from Ireland.

The government has been defeated nearly 10 times on major matters that would have ordinarily required an election to follow. But the U.K. now has statutory fixed terms, and so the opposition’s agreement is required in order to have an early election. The opposition does not want an early election, fearing that it would lose, and perhaps lose heavily. So it keeps preventing the minority government from implementing its Brexit program, but refusing an election to resolve the impasse. It is uncharted constitutional territory, and the waters are not tranquil but full of peril.

This departure from Westminster constitutional conventions has taken its toll. In order for the House of Commons to repeatedly frustrate the government, but without dissolution, the Speaker, John Bercow, has transformed himself into the de facto opposition house leader. That he has become a grating caricature does not diminish the damage he has wrought. A House without an impartial Speaker flexes its muscles during a minority parliament; when a majority returns, the governing party will steamroller the Speaker so that he becomes a de facto government House leader.

Continue reading at the National Post:
https://nationalpost.com/opinion/raymond-de-souza-the-other-british-exit-that-brexit-will-advance