John Major says unionists have shown ‘breathtaking ignorance’ on Brexit

Former prime minister John Major has accused some Unionist politicians of “breathtaking ignorance” in the Brexit debate, saying that they are oblivious to the likely impact of “unsettling the Good Friday Agreement.”

He countered suggestions that the backstop in Theresa May’s Brexit deal, which aims to prevent a hard border in Northern Ireland, was “a bogus ploy” to keep the UK in a customs union.

Major said, “in truth, a backstop is of vital national interest for Ireland and for the United Kingdom.”

READ MORE: What is the Irish backstop in Theresa May’s Brexit deal?

The former Conservative leader, who served as prime minister from 1990-1997, was speaking on Monday in Ireland at the inaugural memorial lecture for former Irish prime minister Albert Reynolds.

In 1993, Major and Reynolds signed the Downing Street Declaration that led to an IRA ceasefire in Northern Ireland and laid the groundwork for the historic Good Friday Agreement.

“Brexiteers claim that the backstop damages the union. I think that’s wholly misguided,” he warned. “The greatest danger to the union would be a hard border that damaged jobs and prosperity in Northern Ireland and undermined the Good Friday agreement.”

He also called for a return to power-sharing in Northern Ireland, which has been without a devolved government since January 2017, following a breakdown in talks between Arlene Foster’s Democratic Unionist Party and the republican Sinn Féin.

A hard border in conjunction with the lack of a power-sharing executive, he said, could see those living in Northern Ireland “look once again at a united Ireland” and put “peace at risk.”

Irish politicians have warned that there would be a return to violence in Northern Ireland “within a week” if a hard border is erected.

READ MORE: Hard border will see ‘return to violence within a week’

And if the House of Commons cannot find a way forward, Major said, then the risk of a hard border “remains possible”.

“Even if, at some date, the prime minster’s plans are approved, the problem is not solved. It is temporarily put on hold, put on hold until a frictionless border moves from myth to reality, or until a long-term deal is reached that removes the need for any border at all.”

Major said, however, that he did not believe a majority of MPs would allow a hard border to become a reality, and called “reckless” those who are “careless of its likely effect.”

“Any new border, however gentle its intent,” he said, “would become a symbol and thus a target.

“Both physically and emotionally, it would not only present a barrier between North and South, between Unionists and Nationalists, but between the United Kingdom and its nearest neighbour.”

It would be a “tragedy,” he said, if Brexit created an impediment to the “excellent bilateral relations” between the UK and Ireland.