With Brexit now a reality, the UK as we know is sure to undergo significant changes. On the political front, the recent British elections expressed a clear split in British society. Although the Conservative Party won the day, the anti-Brexit camp remains considerable but divided. In Scotland the anti-Brexit SNP won by a landslide and this potently sets up another Scottish referendum. Johnson has negotiated a new Brexit arrangement for the north of Ireland, the effectiveness of the plan is to prevent a hard border on the island of Ireland has yet to be tested. His recent visit to the north was less than convincing. The DUP are still in the hole, but have stopped digging, have looked up, and have seen the light with their finger in the mouth.
The UK is no longer one entity. Brexit has fundamentally challenged Britain’s projection of itself in the world. UK can no longer claim to be a champion of liberal values as Brexit was primarily driven by a desire to take back control of immigration and UK’s borders. Today it stands a divided nation where English nationalist forces have gained the upper hand. In light of Brexit, all of that is coming apart. All of this risks boomeranging on the UK. For, as soon as British openness started being seen as a liability by a considerable section of the British population given a slowing economy and changing British demographics, racism and nativism reared their ugly heads. Fears began rising that the white British population would soon be overwhelmed by people of colour and outsiders. It is these regressive forces that are dividing Britain today and undermining its position as a liberal society.
Britain for centuries had divided people on the basis of ethnicity, religion and sects. It drew arbitrary lines in the sand and sowed the seeds of generation’s long communal strife. We in Ireland are well aware of the deep scars that Britain’s divide and rule policy inflicted upon us. Today, it is the Britons’ turn to be divided on ideological and possibly sectarian and ethnic grounds. And with British openness, fairness and multiculturalism now undermined by Brexit, the pull of the UK as a destination for talent is also likely to fade. British politicians may think that they can manage the situation and maintain British liberal supremacy. But that would be arrogance, the same arrogance that saw certain British politicians boost regressive forces by proposing Brexit for political gains.
The decline in British liberalism is bound to hurt the UK even more. In that sense, Britain risks becoming an old, sclerotic nation with little real influence in the world. Many would say it serves them right.
JAMES G BARRY
Dublin 6
On close inspection north’s government agencies not fit for purpose
It happened first with RHI and Water and now it is happening again with the Driver and Vehicle Agency (DVA) that on close inspection or in a time of crisis, these government agencies are not fit for purpose.
This debacle would not have happened in the UK or Irish Republic where the testing is undertaken through an extensive network of licensed MOT and Vehicle Testing Centres run by the private sector and regulated by the state. This ensures that there is comprehensive national network of approved testing centres which in turn provides the competition necessary to provide investment and customer excellence.
This debacle in Northern Ireland proves yet again, that state-owned monopolies such as vehicle testing, LPS, building control etc are not fit for purpose and are from bygone times.
Northern Ireland needs regulation and enforcement agencies that put the customer at its core. With the vehicle testing regime, we need regulated and approved MOT assessment centres available in every town and village in Northern Ireland just like in the UK and Republic.
People have been conditioned in Northern Ireland by the civil servants themselves that only the state can be trusted with enforcing regulation, just like it was in George Orwell’s
Animal Farm.
It is clear time and time again that state-own monopolies just do not work as without any form of competition there is no incentive to improve customer service or invest for the future. Major reform is now long overdue.
PATRICK MURDOCK
Newry, Co Down
Stymied debate an insult to democracy
The first of the so-called leaders’ debates between Leo and Micheál, was an insult to voters who would have gotten something completely different had Mary Lou McDonald been included in the panel. I did not watch the programme as I knew full well that it was nothing more than a Panto or as some described it ‘a fake debate’. How could two parties who have been in government for the last eight years scratching each other’s back every time an itch developed, suddenly turn around and say oh no, it never happened. Both parties have no excuse to pose as being separate to each other as both are politically and economically sharing the same capitalist leaning manifesto. Both have shared the echelons of Dáil privileges since the foundation of the state, which manifested itself in a myriad of scandals, one after the other that consumed much media airtime over the years discussing tribunals where no-one is convicted.
To my utter disgust, it looks set to be one or the other who will occupy the taoiseach’s seat, where the itch will continue to be scratched in the interest of self-preservation and denial of proper public representation. We are left with a society that is becoming more broken and dysfunctional as each day passes. Each general election I keep hoping that people will finally wake up to the reality that they are being used like puppets on a string year-in year-out.
JAMES WOODS
Gort an Choirce, Dún na nGall
Follower of Jesus
If I may comment on a recent letter from Danny Tracey – ‘Literal interpretation of holy books still finds considerable support’ (January 22).
I am a member of one of the three religions he refers to – a Catholic, a follower of Jesus Christ,
Jesus was neither selfish or jealous. He willingly died on a cross to save us for eternity without him. Jesus gave us instruction on how we should live our lives if we want to be followers of His, one of His commandments is ‘thou shall not kill’ (no exceptions).
So no-one should use Jesus name to support war, violence, injustice, mistreatment, hate etc,
PATSY TURBITT
Ballygawley, Co Tyrone
