A Simple Sailor
Some of this blog's previous "Jeux Sans Frontieres" entries have drawn attention to whether the British and Irish plans for e-borders will place travellers from Northern Ireland in a different position to others within the UK.
Yesterday in the Lords, Baron West of Spithead got into a muddle about where the UK begins and ends. Lord West was formerly the head of the Royal Navy but he is now one of Gordon Brown's GOATS (which stands for "government of all the talents"). Recently he had to turn on a sixpence over controversial comments about extending the 28 day limit for detaining terrorist suspects, then defended himself as a "simple sailor" new to politics.
Yesterday in the Lords, whilst explaining the e-borders concept, the Admiral said "we are applying a sensible way forward to identify the loophole that existed of people moving in through the Republic of Ireland, into Northern Ireland and then travelling across to the United Kingdom."
He was challenged by the Conservative peer and former UUP leader Lord Trimble who pointed out "my Lords, does the Minister not realise that, when he spoke a moment ago of travelling from Northern Ireland to the United Kingdom, he demonstrated clearly his lack of understanding of the basic concept?"
And so the "simple sailor" was forced to explain that "my Lords, it was a slip. I certainly understand it. As I said, I have served in Northern Ireland. It was rather like the slip that people make when they forget that the United Kingdom is in Europe. It is a slip that is made sometimes."
The Tory Spokesman Owen Paterson has demanded that the Common Travel Area between the UK and the Republic should be upgraded, and accused Lord West of demonstrating "utter incoherence" on the topic.
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Mark, I am so pleased that you at least are raising this topic, which sadly it is getting virtually no publicity at all in GB.
The peace process in Ireland has been one of the great successes of recent years, and seems to me (as an Englishman and therefore an outsider) to have established a wonderful compromise where Republicans in NI feel they are closer to the Republic, without the Loyalists feeling disowned by the UK.
That is a fantastic achievement, and interestingly, one of the big successes in many other border areas across the EU (Northern Italy, Belgium β German minorities; Northern Germany β Danish minority etc) where open borders and gradual harmonisation has made it less and less important where the border itself is drawn because it doesnβt really matter anymore. Historically these areas, where loyalties are divided, have always been the flash points for conflict across not only Ireland but all across Europe.
This ignorant (UK) Governmentβs obsession with border controls must not be allowed to jeopardise this success (as well as putting thousands through unnecessary inconvenience) by imposing controls either on the UKβs land border to the Republic or on the Irish Sea crossing to GB. We have managed without controls through the Second World War β even though the UK was at war and RoI was neutral - and throughout the βTroublesβ, so what has changed?
If the rest of Europe can have open borders courtesy of Schengen, then RoI and the UK β as two EU member states - can surely keep the borders open.