Opinion

UKIP's disastrous Brexit legacy

ALL those associated with the various stages of the disastrous Brexit campaign, particularly its supporters in the DUP, would do well to reflect on the ultimate fate of the United Kingdom Independence Party (UKIP).

There can be little doubt that Brexit was largely the creation of UKIP, which during its brief period of prominence managed to panic the then British prime minister David Cameron into endorsing an entirely unnecessary referendum on the issue of EU membership.

Mr Cameron, who was in a strong position after returning the Conservative Party to power in 2010 after 13 years in opposition, should simply have ignored UKIP's temporary rise, and faced down his own internal eurosceptic opponents by inviting them to instigate a leadership challenge which he would undoubtedly have won.

Instead, he foolishly committed himself to a specific EU poll and then allowed a fringe group like UKIP to dictate the terms of an entirely misleading debate which not only led to the end of his political career but looks increasingly likely to result in the final break-up of the UK.

The question put to the electorate made no mention of the customs union, did not even hint that the UK would have to pay an enormous bill for leaving the EU and entirely ignored the chaos which would inevitably follow over the Irish border.

Instead, Brexiteers were allowed to put forward nonsensical claims over additional funding for the National Health Service which never materialised and introduce scare stories over immigration which were probably the decisive element in the final narrow victory for the leave camp in England and Wales but not in Scotland and Northern Ireland.

The party which instigated the entire debacle then faded from the scene as swiftly as it had risen, and last week’s local government elections left it with a derisory three councillors out of over 4,000 seats available across England.

However, while UKIP may be on the point of extinction, its legacy will be an enduring overall Brexit crisis with massive long-term implications in Ireland.