Don’t listen to the Remain refuseniks or gloating from Brussels – the election result won’t scupper Brexit
THE election result won’t scupper Brexit, no matter what a few Remain refuseniks think.
All the gloating in Brussels doesn’t change the fundamental facts.
Theresa May might have made a total mess of her election campaign but she’s still the leader of the largest party in Parliament.
Provided her budgets contain money for new schools and hospitals in Ulster, the DUP will be onside.
Add the Ulster Unionists to the Tory tally and there’s just enough to get by.
Nor is it just a case of mercenary sentiment and maths: the DUP was one of the only parties unequivocally committed to us leaving the EU.
The idea that this result means staying in the single market is absurd.
The Ulster Unionists don’t want that, and by weird coincidence most of the handful of Tory MPs who still felt that way lost their seats on Thursday.
The election leaves us with a Commons majority for Leave.
Most MPs were elected on a platform to get us out of the EU, with more than 80 per cent from parties with a commitment to honour the choice of voters.
Brussels might sneer at Theresa May’s intense discomfort but its ill-judged attacks can’t overcome the legal and political reality: Article 50 has been triggered.
Having the DUP on board, far from disrupting negotiations, ensures that there’s an even better prospect of aligning everyone’s interests on the Irish border issue.
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No one wants a return to a hard land border: having the DUP on hand ensures it won’t happen by default, which was always a danger.
“But what about the money?” Mrs May was always going to have to compromise.
If there are residual obligations, surely we can all agree that we are a country that pays its way in the world?
It’s precisely because of the money that Mrs May still has a strong hand in her negotiations.
It’s not EC president Jean-Claude Juncker and co that she needs to deal with but the German chancellor.
Ignore the Brussels provocations.
Disregard Mr Juncker’s buffoonish interventions.
After the German election this autumn, Mrs May must sit down with Chancellor Angela Merkel and talk business.
She could still have the country behind her as she does so if she’s pragmatic and reasonable.