The U.K. and EU are planning separate systems to tax carbon-heavy imports, prompting familiar fears about the impact in Northern Ireland.
In 2019, Boris Johnson promised his Brexit deal would do away with checks on the Northern Irish border. Five years later, the region is about to be whacked with yet another trade headache.
The latest tension comes from net zero rules, with the U.K. and EU preparing separate schemes on either side of the border to tax climate-damaging imports.
Britain’s proposals on high-carbon imports don’t kick in for at least a year after the EU’s start — leaving Northern Ireland, and its half-in half-out status, at risk of getting caught in the middle of yet another Brexit-driven political row.
Experts say the latest dispute will hike business costs and threaten jobs in the region, and could reopen arguments about laws separating Northern Ireland from the rest of the U.K.
Sinn Fein seems to be trying to rebrand itself as a party of social democrats with reunification as the “yes, of course that too.” They’re also increasing in power on both sides of the border now.
Ulster Protestants are still very much against reunification, but the hassles of Brexit and the protections promised by the EU are weighing even on them. 80% still oppose reunification, but the number who say that they “couldn’t live with it” is down and shrinking over time.
I’m honestly shocked one in five NI Protestants have no issue with reunification. Hopefully that number keeps growing
Well, let me be more precise. In the poll, 81 percent said they opposed, 4 percent favored, 5 percent said they wouldn’t vote, and 10 percent said they didn’t know. The bigger move is that if they “lost,” 52 percent said they’d live with it and 22 percent said they’d happily accept reunification.