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Now Boris Johnson has struck his deal, it's time to put Brexit back in the hands of the people

Editorial: Britain has lived in a state of permanent debate for three years. Our voters can now be said to be the best educated in the world

Thursday 17 October 2019 18:10 BST
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Last October’s march for a second referendum
Last October’s march for a second referendum

Sent out to flog Boris Johnson’s Brexit deal, Michael Gove put the best spin he could on it: “The backstop’s been ditched.”

He is right, in a technical sense. The Ireland-Northern Ireland protocol in the original UK-EU withdrawal agreement has indeed been replaced by a new one, but only by retaining Northern Ireland in much of the EU single market and by applying the rules of the EU customs union. In essence, the old backstop has been replaced by a new backstop.

The constitutional implications are plain: if this deal is ever implemented it will mean a double economic border down the Irish Sea, with only a patchy arrangement for winning the democratic consent of the people of Northern Ireland.

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