Opinion

Allison Morris: History will judge who is nobler in Brexit disaster

Prime Minister Theresa May visits the Scottish Leather Group Limited, in Bridge of Weir, Scotland. The Bank of England has warned that a no-deal scenario could see the UK's unemployment rate rise to 7.5 per cent, inflation surge to 6.5 per cent and interest rates rocket as high as 5.5 per cent Picture by Reuters/Russell Cheyne/PA
Prime Minister Theresa May visits the Scottish Leather Group Limited, in Bridge of Weir, Scotland. The Bank of England has warned that a no-deal scenario could see the UK's unemployment rate rise to 7.5 per cent, inflation surge to 6.5 per cent and in Prime Minister Theresa May visits the Scottish Leather Group Limited, in Bridge of Weir, Scotland. The Bank of England has warned that a no-deal scenario could see the UK's unemployment rate rise to 7.5 per cent, inflation surge to 6.5 per cent and interest rates rocket as high as 5.5 per cent Picture by Reuters/Russell Cheyne/PA

THE DARK, wet and stormy weather that greeted British prime minister Theresa May on her Brexit tour stop off in Belfast this week, may well have seemed like an omen of what lies ahead.

A woman with a remarkable ability to hold onto her job, despite taking on the biggest task facing any British leader since the Second World War.

Members of her own party are still plotting against her, while she remains tied to the never, never, never of the DUP for survival.

The Brexit withdrawal agreement remains on the table, despite initially looking to be a non-runner.

Mrs May seems determined to sell its merits, and while there are clearly flaws it is the best the EU27 are willing to offer.

She can be grateful that those who are involved in the Machiavellian practices aimed at unseating her remain more Dad’s Army than elite force.

The inability to gather 48 signatures to launch a leadership challenge must have raised a smile in the otherwise stoic prime minister.

That she has also gathered some unlikely allies in Northern Ireland in the shape of the business community and the remain parties must also have lifted spirits in Downing Street.

For the first time ever the DUP, the party of business, the party which was once closely aligned with the Ulster Farmers Union, finds itself on a very different page from its traditional base.

Instead they now rely on the support of the hardliners, those who would risk economic ruin for the love of the red, white and blue.

That remains a considerable section of unionism, saving the union at all costs has returned the DUP, election after election, as the largest party.

But it is clearly unusual and uncomfortable territory for Arlene Foster, who has accused the media of causing a rift, of ‘driving a wedge’ between her party and the business sector.

She deliberately ignored the comments made by Sammy Wilson and Jeffrey Donaldson. The much more measured MP for Lagan Valley merely patronised the business sector by suggesting they hadn’t read the detail of the withdrawal agreement while his ruddier faced East Antrim colleague accused them of being ‘puppets’ of the NIO.

I wonder had we still working devolution would civic society have been as outspoken?

Would they have risen up against the DUP, who have always favoured the economy portfolios and therefore could offer incentives for either outspoken support or reluctant silence?

Regardless, this business sector rebellion appears to have rattled the cages of the DUP in a way that we haven’t seen before.

Arlene Foster claimed this week there was a ‘third way’ to a better deal. She is not alone in this with hardline Tory Brexiteers also claiming that a better deal could be negotiated.

That’s at odds with the EU who were clear from the start that there was a better way, a third way, and that was the status quo, that is the deal Britain receives as a fully paid-up member.

To date no one has explained in economic detail what the alternative is, not the ERG, not the DUP, not Boris Johnson nor Jacob Rees Mogg. Beyond soundbites no one appears to have a workable alternative.

And that is probably why Theresa May remains undeterred, carrying out her Brexit tour of the regions and nations, attempting to sell a deal that she clearly believes is the best on offer.

The famous Hamlet quote comes to mind: “Whether 'tis nobler in the mind to suffer the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune, or to take arms against a sea of troubles, and by opposing end them.”

David Cameron chose to take himself off at the first sign of Brexitastrophe. Mrs May appears to be cut from a different cloth.

She seems totally and utterly committed to the service of her country regardless of the personal cost, regardless of how many slings and arrows she endures from her enemies, most of whom are in her own party.

What we are watching unfold is political history in the making.

The events of this last year and the next one will be studied by the scholars of the future.

The prime minister knows this is her legacy and seems determined to see it through. There are others who see this turbulence in terms of political opportunism.

Who will the history books be kinder too, who will be the person remembered for placing country before self, for placing people before power?