Richard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance) | Oireachtas source

I cannot see into the mind of Boris Johnson, MP, and I am not sure I would want to, because I would say it is a pretty scary place but what we can say about him is that one of his biggest international backers is President Donald Trump, another man whose mind I would not like to see into, as it would be even scarier. As we speak, Donald Trump is willing to incite civil war in the United States if he does not win a general election. If Trump is the more extreme version of a certain type of political madness that is unfortunately taking off around the world at the moment, Boris Johnson is his Mini-Me. I would, therefore, not be so complacent as to suggest that reason will prevail. Rationality is not a characteristic of extreme right wing, imperially minded, hard nationalist politics. It is not reasonable. If one looked at this reasonably, one would conclude that the British Government wants to do a deal and these are just negotiating tactics. However, looking at the records of Donald Trump and Boris Johnson and where the sort of politics they are propounding have historically led, one sees that acting reasonably is not a feature. These people are quite capable of going on wrecking missions. Trump has done that in the United States. Boris Johnson has treated his own people with utter recklessness during the Covid-19. He is threatening the health and welfare of ordinary working-class British people. That is the record of the Tory party, particularly the rotten wing that Johnson represents, which is given to nostalgia for the glory days of empire. We have to understand that we are in a serious and dangerous situation

. Being complacent and hoping that reason will prevail is not a strategy. That means we have to defeat what Boris Johnson represents. We have to be very tough and say that peace and security on this island will not be a pawn in the dangerous game he is playing. Under no circumstances can we allow his wrecking agenda to lead to the erection of a border on this island, which would threaten the peace and stability we have achieved. We also need to say to the EU that we will not be a pawn in any game it is playing with Boris Johnson. We must be clear that we will not be anybody's pawn and that we will not accept a hard border in any circumstances or for any reason, or the question of the re-establishment of a board being a bargaining chip in the game and the negotiations. We cannot allow that to happen.

In that context, it is not dangerous or a mistake to put forward the argument for ending partition and bringing about the unification of this country. The people of Britain, the North and Scotland are not stupid. They understand how dangerous Boris Johnson is. His agenda is revealing itself to huge numbers of people, who perhaps would not have questioned certain allegiances previously but who can see the irrationality, recklessness and danger of what he is pursuing. The Government appears to think this is a no-go area and that it is somehow threatening to talk about ending partition and uniting this island. Now is the time that putting that argument forward makes sense.

In doing so, we have to make it clear that uniting this island is about making a better country than either of the ones that exist at the moment, North or South. Unionism maintaining its grip in the North has a lot to do with pointing at deficiencies in the South such as the control of the Catholic Church, the conservative nature of the State and, once upon a time, economic backwardness. Even now the lack of a national health service is an issue. There is a strong argument for taking an all-Ireland approach to dealing with the mortal threat of Covid-19. We need an integrated national health service across the island. If we champion issues such as the separation of church and State, a national health service and a sane, all-Ireland approach to tackling Covid-19, we can open the door to challenging the rotten nationalism of Boris Johnson and the rotten politics of the DUP and Orangeism. That is the approach we have to take. It is not about saying how superior we are to Boris Johnson; it is about showing in practice that we have an agenda for a changed Ireland. Historically, big shifts in allegiances have taken place at critical moments. Under particular circumstances of economic or political crisis, people who thought they had certain religious or cultural allegiances have begun to question them. That is a time when that is happening.

It is time to start talking about ending partition on the basis of uniting Catholic and Protestant working people in the fight for a different republic, the sort of republic James Connolly fought for. That is not just idle rhetoric. This is a truly opportune moment. We are at an historic crossroads for all sorts of reasons. We have to radically change the sort of republic we are fighting for down here to make unification a seriously attractive option for people from all backgrounds, North and South.

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