By Joe Creason 10/17/2019
The United Kingdom and the European Union agreed on the draft text of a Brexit agreement pushed forward by British Prime Minister Boris Johnson.
Under the terms of the agreement, the country of Northern Ireland within the United Kingdom, would leave the European Union’s single market and join a separate customs union with Britain.
However, Northern Ireland would still remain compliant with many rules and regulations mandated by the European Union. This would allow for the continuation of obstacle free trading with Ireland, which is a member state of the EU.
The deal has its supporters who, in addition to the hard-line law making supports of Brexit, include the Prime Minister of Ireland Leo Varadkar. Conservative party members within have shown support for the deal and reject any agreement that fully distinguishes Northern Ireland from the rest of the UK, which it would see as the first step toward Irish Unification.
Even factions within the EU have shown support for the agreement, such as European Commission president Jean-Claude Juncker.
“This deal represents a very good deal for both the EU and for the UK …and it’s a reasonable fair outcome” said Mr. Juncker who went on to add “I’m happy about the deal, but I’m sad about Brexit.”
The deal has its detractors as well. In opposition to Boris Johnson, Labour Party leader Jermey Corbyn called for parliament to reject the deal, saying that it’s “ even worse deal the Theresa May’s ”.
The DUP would have been an important piece of Mr. Johnson’s coalition and a key source of votes in pushing the deal through parliament. Without their support it could be a struggle for Mr. Johnson to move his agreement forward with the European Union. In the case of the deal being blocked in the Saturday vote, analysts believe that Johnson will call for a general election in hopes that voters deliver him a strong majority.
Johnson has been vocal about his goal of leaving the EU by Oct. 31.