AMERICAN BREXIT COMMITTEE
1919 CHESTNUT ST, SUITE 1724
PHILADELPHIA, PA 19103
John M. Corcoran, Esq., Chair
Michael J. Cummings, Secretary
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
1. What does Brexit refer to and what does it mean?
The term is a media creation to refer to a non-binding June, 2016 referendum in the UK which approved Britain leaving the European Community of 27 nations. It also refers to the Withdrawal Agreement the EU and Parliament adopted in December, 2020. A N. I. Protocol to that agreement is already being undermined by the British 10 months into the withdrawal.
2. How will Britain’s exit from the EU impact the Republic of Ireland (26 counties) and N.I. (6 counties)?
Ireland will be especially impacted by most policies Britain adopts to implement their exit from the EU including increased tariffs on goods, Foreign Direct investment, punitive import/export practices, reduction in EU structural funds, farming grants, freedom of movement of EU and Irish citizens. The Good Friday Agreement (GFA) between the UK and Ireland has already been undermined by UK ignoring specific GFA obligations e. g., in the Stormont House Agreement. There are 140 joint EU-UK N. I. programs funded pursuant to GFA initiatives which will be impacted.
3. How will the 1998 Belfast Treaty (GFA) between the UK and Ireland be affected by Britain’s departure?
The United States and the European Union are not signatories to the GFA but act as guarantors. The British Conservative government has nothing but contempt for it. Britain has announced they will repeal the Human Rights Act of 1998 and has passed legislation to empower Ministers to ignore EU directives. Key justice provisions of the Good Friday Agreement have been ignored, corrective programs unfunded, and justice corrupted. With unseemly speed, Parliament passed a law in 2020 to forbid prosecutors in NI from charging British Army, MI-5 and police personnel involved in killing civilian in NI. The Irish Taoiseach claims this is a direct challenge to the fundamental principles of the GFA.
4. Will Britain be in some sort of distress and in need of U.S. aid as a result of Brexit?
As the world’s 5th largest economy, Britain is well positioned to weather any EU exit storms. The principal negative impact will be off-loaded to Ireland, N. I. and Scotland. PM Johnson wants a new US-UK trade deal to bail Britain out from the self-harm Brexiteers have inflicted on England and its economy.
5. How can Americans oppose or have conditions placed on any proposed US-UK trade deal if Britain’s Brexit negatively impacts the GFA and is harmful to the Irish economy or people or to the example the U.S. gives to the rest of the world?
In America, foreign policy is generally bi-partisan and trade is coordinated with the President and Congressional Committees such as Ways and Means and Foreign Affairs in the House, Finance and Foreign Relations in the Senate and the Joint Committee for Security and Cooperation in Europe (Helsinki Commission). However, Britain has the largest block of registered lobbyists in Washington, D.C. and many American visits, voices, letters, e-mails and calls will be required to be heard to convey our concerns. The New Atlantic Charter(2021)should be the benchmark if the US and UK are to live up to their promises.
6. Will Britain’s leaving the EU affect the “special relationship” the US has with the UK?
The “special relationship” is largely a media fiction perpetuated to get the British government favors, special privileges, contracts, academic and business access denied other nations. This myth has been embedded in the Department of State which has provided ‘cover’ for the British in their lawless terrorizing of the NI civil rights movement and all the corruption, assassinations and anti-democratic acts that followed. If America needs a partner to promote democracy, justice, TRANSPARENCY and the rule of law, then the EU and Ireland --NOT THE UK-- are better equipped to fill that ”special relationship” role and to achieve the goals of the new ATLANTIC CHARTER.
Rev. 3/22
americanbrexitcommittee.com