We did not leave the EU only for its court to hold sway over us, says STEPHEN POLLARD.
Rab Butler, that political titan of the post-War era, famously described politics as "the art of the possible". It's one of those seemingly innocuous, obvious observations that turns out to convey deep wisdom - much like Lyndon Johnson's maxim that the first rule of politics is the ability to count.
The Protocol has had a deadening effect on Northern Irish politics because it enrages Unionists, who say it undermines the idea of Northern Ireland as part of the UK – and so they refuse to take their place in the power-sharing government set up as a result of the Good Friday Agreement.
Renegotiating the Protocol has been a priority for the last three prime ministers. It was, of course, Boris Johnson who agreed to the Protocol, as part of the Brexit deal he signed.
But he soon decided that it had to be replaced and introduced the Northern Ireland Protocol Bill which would give the government the legal power to ignore the Protocol.
This was deeply controversial, not least because it is a breach of international law – since we willingly signed up to the Protocol in the first place and you cannot unilaterally break international treaties.
Mr Johnson and his allies argue that the bill is part of a carrot-and-stick approach to resolving the issue, with the bill the stick with which to push the EU towards a negotiated settlement.
Under Rishi Sunak, however, the bill’s progress through Parliament has been suspended as part of a deliberate attempt to inject more congeniality into the negotiations with the EU.
On one level, that seems to have worked. Seemingly well-informed reports describe near agreement on a new arrangement, with the setting up of a green and a red lane for goods entering Northern Ireland – green, without customs checks, for trusted traders transporting to Northern Ireland only; red with full checks for everything else.
That’s quite a concession by the EU.
Sounds sensible, doesn’t it? But don’t fall for the idea that rationality is the guiding light in all this.
Because although both the EU and the UK have compromised, there seems now to be one sticking point that threatens everything.
Any trade agreement requires a body to act as the ultimate arbiter when there is a dispute. From the start – indeed from the beginning of the entire Brexit process – the EU has insisted that the body is the European Court of Justice (ECJ). That, of course, has been the ultimate no-no for Brexiteers.
We did not leave the EU only for the EU’s court to retain power over us. But politics – and diplomacy – is the art of the possible, remember.
And with a willingness to be creative, there is always a solution to be found. In this case, the EU has gone further than ever before in circumscribing the role of the ECJ.
It has agreed to limit the oversight of the ECJ only to when Northern Ireland judges themselves decide to refer a problem to the ECJ.
The practical likelihood of EU judges actually influencing domestic policy or law would be minuscule.
This is what compromise means. We would be compromising by setting aside our principled objection to the ECJ having any role in the UK, but the EU would also be compromising in limiting the scope of the ECJ.
But if reaching an agreement is the art of the possible, having it accepted looks at the moment as though it is anything but possible. The Democratic Unionist Party, the main unionist party, is adamant that it will not accept any role for the ECJ, however small.
And if the DUP refuses to budge – to compromise, that is – then the entire negotiation has been a waste of time, because the whole purpose is to replace the Protocol with an arrangement that the DUP will accept, so that it will return to power-sharing under the Good Friday Agreement.
In Westminster, some hardline Brexiteers and supporters of Boris Johnson are planning to kill any such deal.
Well, really. In what world is it proportionate to undermine the very existence of a peace deal that has saved so many lives and transformed the prospects for everyone in Northern Ireland.
I voted for Brexit and remain fully convinced of its merits. But sometimes my fellow Brexiteers make me feel ashamed.
