Brexit has been betrayed, and Northern Ireland is paying for it. The Windsor Framework, while it has the safeguards necessary to protect NI from changes to EU regulation, hasn't the guardrails to protect Northern Ireland's sovereignty and place in the United Kingdom. Since the decision to give the Dublin government an extended role in the governance of Northern Ireland - beyond what was once envisioned in the 1985 Anglo-Irish Agreement - the march towards a united Ireland by nationalists has made clear the need for a strong unionist policy. A revised framework, or a new agreement that retain's the sovereignty of the United Kingdom, is sorely needed before any consideration of a return to 'normalcy' is even discussed.
On the UK side, the British government has emphasised its commitment to the Good Friday Agreement and to maintaining no security outposts on the border between the Republic of Ireland and the United Kingdom. Yet, in the name of this very commitment against a border, the new agreement has nonetheless dictated that Northern Ireland is to be treated as a different entity of the United Kingdom - which in itself violates Article VI of the Act of Union, in that no part of the UK should be treated differently or given differential access to goods and services.
Brexit was about sovereignty and now, competitiveness in the UK is paying for the lack thereof. The 2021 agreement to a global minimum corporation tax has ceded domestic fiscal policy to the whims of organisations overseas and their ideological agendas. At the time, the theme was all about having big tech 'pay their fair share'., a clearly America-centric argument that didn't note the importance that, say US tech firms' offices in Ireland played to their economy. Britain must charge its own way forward and realise that its foreign policy must be driven by its own commercial and political interests, not that of others. For Britain to be its own player in the world, remaining independent and sovereign will be the most reliable trust factor for its presence on the world stage, something that our fellow AUKUS partner Australia has long recognised.
Brexit has been betrayed in that the spirit of an independent, sovereign, United Kingdom - free from external hindrance in our internal affairs - has been abandoned. The Windsor Framework presents no coherent trajectory for Britain's place in the world stage, claws back no sovereignty for a constituent nation of the UK, and opens the door for the united Ireland the nationalists so desire.
There are no easy solutions, but they do exist. The Bruges Group will continue to advocate for them.