BREAKING UP IS INDEED HARD TO DO

Jan 16, 2018 Editorial

Breaking up whether in a marriage or relationship is difficult in the best of times, and even more so when the couple has been bound by law. Getting through the legal process of a divorce in some cases is so complex that specialist lawyers usually have to be hired to protect the assets of each party, especially if a spouse is far wealthier than the other. Too often the spouse with less assets is considered greedy. It is the same for couples living together for five years or more in several countries, including Canada and the United States. However, going through the legal process is like fighting a war without weapons.
It is similarly difficult for countries to break-up. Some do, and end up with permanently warring nations or would-be nations. Many have attempted separations and have end up in bloody civil war. In countries where one region or a group of people wants to secede and the majority will not allow it to happen, the result is usually civil war, in which the majority violently suppresses the aspirations of the minority.
The Nigerian Civil War known as the Biafran War, was fought in the mid-1960s between the Government of Nigeria and the secessionist Biafran State of the Igbo people. Catalonia which is an autonomous Spanish community for centuries, we hope will settle its dispute peacefully with Spain, like Quebec and Canada. In the latter, two referendums were held by the Quebec separatist movement to separate the province from Canada, but it did not succeed.
Separation in integration processes among groups or countries can be problematic. Sometimes the break-up can be orderly and amicable, such as Jamaica’s exit from the West Indies Federation.
But it can be extremely difficult, as is the case with Brexit. Eighteen months after a referendum was held in Britain on June 23, 2016 in which 51.9 percent of Brits voted to leave the European Union (EU), little or no progress has been made. Both sides seem frustrated as to how to settle the four main unresolved issues.
One of those unresolved issues is, instead of Britain being reimbursed with money that was to be contributed to the EU, it will have to pay billions of pounds over many years. Second, the border problem between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland remains a major sticking point in the negotiations.
Third, the EU has refused to discuss trade until the Irish border issue is resolved, because any trade deal without a settlement of the border will allow Britain to have the same benefits as being in the EU. If there is no agreement on the border issue, trade would be based on the rules of the World Trade Organization. And the fourth is the status and rights of the 1.2 million British people living in Europe and the 3.2 million Europeans living in the United Kingdom (UK), of which 80 percent will be eligible for permanent residence before the 2019 exit date.
Meanwhile, as negotiations proceed, the UK economy has deteriorated, its currency (pound) has dropped, and the financial sector is haemorrhaging. Experts have predicted Brexit could erode the role of London as a premier international financial centre, with negative effects such as a loss of jobs, taxes and other revenue. Recent polls in the UK have shown that a majority are now opposed to Britain leaving the EU. Scotland and Ireland do not want to leave the EU. Several people, including former Prime Minister Tony Blair, have suggested that the UK should change its position and remain in the EU. This position could gain support as the public becomes more aware of the difficulties and cost of Brexit. But could it happen?

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