The only Brexit compromise I can see coming is a bad one

The only Brexit compromise I can see coming is a bad one | Martin Kettle

The road to the Good Friday agreement took many years of slowly shifting opinion. Brexit feels a long way off that point

Brexit is a reminder that two connected things need to happen in order for a political compromise to stick. First, partisan leaders must decide that it is better than any other achievable outcome. Second, the public must also converge to give it their backing. One movement towards the treaty table without the other doesn’t cut it.

The Northern Ireland peace process was a classic example of this dual process. It took many years before mutually antagonistic political leaders decided that a peace deal was better than an unwinnable war. But it took even longer for the two communities in Northern Ireland to begin to make the same move. The peace process only worked because the political deal was followed by referendums that endorsed it.

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from The Guardian http://bit.ly/2FUqHTu

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