It appears that a nation that once lorded over large parts of the world is now caught in a quicksand called Brexit. Brexit has devoured quite a few Prime Ministers of Britain. A deal might have been reached with the European Union, but it would be interesting to see if it gets the approval of Parliament (Page 1, “Britain clinches Brexit deal with EU”, October 18). A country that ruled the world is also struggling to keep its flock together. Scotland will definitely make moves for another referendum. It could be the same as far as Ireland is concerned. What a fall for a country which once boasted that the sun never sets on its Empire.
T. Anand Raj,
Chennai
Brexit was perhaps as misconceived as has been the efforts to give a practical shape to it. British-Irish history of mutual discord had long been troubling the shaping of a Brexit deal. Despite the Irish political demarcation into the Republic of Ireland, a sovereign nation, and Northern Ireland, as a part of the U.K., both had managed to keep their mutual Irish bonds going under an economic umbrella of the European Union. Brexit would place an economic division to then deepen political fault lines — an anathema to the spirited Irish. Where Theresa May was unable to find the key, Boris Johnson was helped by Brussels equally pressured by time. To assuage Irish sentiment, the deal provides for a customs check protocol at port on the Irish Sea, rather than on a hard border within. This could well have been done three years earlier but for ponderous British partisan politics. In voting for a delay to pass the Brexit accord within October 2019, the MPs have yet again chosen pedantics over pragmatism. Brexit stays as uncertain.
R. Narayanan,
Navi Mumbai
