Risk of civil disorder if Brexit vote is not followed

AFTER a series of debates, the UK Parliament has decided to send their Prime Minister back to Brussels to renegotiate the terms of withdrawal from the EU, due on March 29. The specific matter to be discussed is the status of the border between Northern Ireland and the Irish Republic after withdrawal.

Brexit has opened a major can of worms and has divided not only Parliament but the nation at large, so it is worth trying to simplify the issue. In June 2016, the public were asked to vote in a referendum - whether to remain in the EU or to leave it. There were no clauses or sub clauses. It was made clear that a vote to leave would mean leaving the (free-trade) market, leaving the customs union and ending the free movement of EU citizens across its borders.

EU is an organisation that has evolved from an economic trading area into the establishment of a United States of Europe, with common politics, defence and economic policy, and a common currency - the euro. In economic terms, the three pillars of membership are free trade, a customs union and free movement of people. They are indivisible, so rejecting one means rejecting all three.