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Comment by faissaloo | Hacker News Reader

I see a very simple solution to the Irish Backstop: Give Ireland back.

To unify Northern Ireland with the Republic, I think there are a few people that have to be asked first.

I mean, it would be somewhat in character for the UK to attempt to achieve that unilaterally and with no consultation, but I think that to try and just 'give it back' as a solution to Brexit is, while no doubt well intentioned, still representing a bit of a colonial point of view.

I don't think you need to ask anyone to return something you took.

Well, you can go tell the Irish that their constitution is wrong, if you like.

"It is the firm will of the Irish Nation, in harmony and friendship, to unite all the people who share the territory of the island of Ireland, in all the diversity of their identities and traditions, recognising that a united Ireland shall be brought about only by peaceful means with the consent of a majority of the people, democratically expressed, in both jurisdictions in the island."

http://www.irishstatutebook.ie/eli/cons/en/html

The hitch with that is that the Conservative government doesn't have a majority without the support of the Democratic Unionist Party of Northern Ireland, and the DUP's central, defining issue is that Northern Ireland is and should always remain part of the UK. So the government can't yield an inch on Ireland, because the minute they do the DUP will withdraw its support and the government will promptly collapse.

They already collapsed (self-inflicted). Thanks to today's resignation and withdrawing the whip from all tonight's rebels, the government is now 20 votes short of a majority.

Expect a vote for a general election tomorrow.

And don't be surprised if MPs vote against it.

Well if I were Labour lead, and seeing as the idiotic Fixed Term Parliament Act requires a super-majority to end a term early, I'd try and keep the impotent Johnson in office as long as possible. Three more years of a government unable to do anything should tear the Tories apart nicely, and perhaps see them unelectable for 30+ years.

If they can't get a super-majority, I think they might be stuck with waiting until term, absurd and broken though that is.

The Lib Dems weren't thinking at all when they pushed for fixed terms.

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