Mark Devenport: Mike Nesbitt was a rare voice within unionism who saw Brexit as a peril to Northern Ireland’s place in the UK

Mike Nesbitt has been many things during his long career — TV presenter, sports reporter, Victims Commissioner and Ulster Unionist leader, writes MARK DEVENPORT.
Mark Devenport, seen here in Brussels, became BBC Northern Ireland political editor in 2001, and joined the corporation in the 1980s. He is now an occasional News Letter columnistMark Devenport, seen here in Brussels, became BBC Northern Ireland political editor in 2001, and joined the corporation in the 1980s. He is now an occasional News Letter columnist
Mark Devenport, seen here in Brussels, became BBC Northern Ireland political editor in 2001, and joined the corporation in the 1980s. He is now an occasional News Letter columnist

The reviews on his political record may be mixed (remember ‘Vote Colum, Get Mike?’). But in the context of Brexit and unionism, Mike may well end up being remembered as a cross between John the Baptist and the child in Hans Christian Andersen’s fairy tale ‘The Emperor’s New Clothes’.

How so? Because back in 2016 when we voted on staying in or leaving the European Union, Nesbitt was, as the book of Isaiah put it, a “voice crying in the wilderness”.

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Moreover, like the child in Andersen’s fairy tale he pointed to the obvious, if unpalatable, consequences that ditching the EU could well have for the stability of the UK.

Mike Nesbitt failed to persuade many in his own UUP to take his lead against Brexit. But, says Mark Devenport, with a barrier to goods entering Northern Ireland from Great Britain, Nesbitt's 2016 warnings seem to have stood the test of timeMike Nesbitt failed to persuade many in his own UUP to take his lead against Brexit. But, says Mark Devenport, with a barrier to goods entering Northern Ireland from Great Britain, Nesbitt's 2016 warnings seem to have stood the test of time
Mike Nesbitt failed to persuade many in his own UUP to take his lead against Brexit. But, says Mark Devenport, with a barrier to goods entering Northern Ireland from Great Britain, Nesbitt's 2016 warnings seem to have stood the test of time

It wasn’t a popular position within unionism at the time. The DUP, TUV and Ukip were all active Brexiteers.

Against a backdrop of decades of Brussels bashing stories in the Fleet Street papers and historical scepticism amongst some unionists who regarded the Treaty of Rome (which created the old EEC back in the 1950s) as some kind of Popish plot, Nesbitt couldn’t even persuade many of his own UUP supporters to take his lead.

The former leader Lord Trimble backed leaving the EU. Senior figures, like Nesbitt’s successor as UUP leader, Robin Swann, made no attempt to hide their pro Brexit inclinations.

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The UUP went into the referendum divided, acknowledging that “the Party respects that individual members may vote for withdrawal on the 23rd of June”.

Within Northern Ireland, Nesbitt ended up on the winning side. But that was a Pyrrhic victory, because across the UK, it was the DUP, TUV, UKIP and Conservative Brexiteers who ended up celebrating.

Yet, with work now proceeding on ‘Border Control Points’ to be staffed by EU monitors examining goods entering Northern Ireland from Great Britain, Nesbitt’s warning back in 2016 that “Northern Ireland will acutely feel the implications of a Brexit; constitutionally, financially and politically” seems to have stood the test of time.

Certainly it has weathered the twists and turns of Brexit history better than Arlene Foster’s comments in the Stormont chamber, shortly after the referendum, when she waved away those who — as she put it — indulged in “terrible prophecies of doom”.

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We may not be teetering on the edge of doom. But, as businesses and consumers pore over the implications of the latest EU UK understanding, it’s certain we are entering a new economic era.

If the experience of Northern Ireland shoppers, retailers and traders differs markedly over time from that of their counterparts in the rest of the UK this will inevitably raise questions about how much a union remains a union if it loses some of its essential economic characteristics?

Some unionists may care most about whether a flag flies on top of any new EU office here.

For those more inclined to follow John Hume’s dictum that ‘you can’t eat a flag’, the real world impact on what they can buy in the supermarkets or online will be more important.

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For anyone old enough to remember the famous ‘Yes Minister’ episode about Brussels banning the British sausage, it’s almost beyond a joke that one element of our latest Brexit uncertainty concerns how much longer Northern Ireland carnivores will be able to munch English sausages.

As the former DUP adviser Richard Bullick put it, Jim Hacker would surely not have become PM if he had only delayed the fictional banning of the British banger and the imposition of the ‘Eurosausage’ rather than stopped it altogether.

However, as I write, the best guess is that carnivorous unionists will only have six months to continue munching on Lincolnshire and Cumberland sausages. After that they may have to make do with our own Cookstown bangers or even German Bratwurst. No doubt some like Sammy Wilson will blame the perfidious EU NI Protocol.

Others, like Mike Nesbitt, may argue that Protocol is just the symptom whereas Brexit was the disease.

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This argument will go on and on. But back in 2016 no one involved in the referendum campaign here — probably not even the prophetic Mike Nesbitt — could have safely predicted that ‘Taking Back Control’ would eventually mean building Control Points for GB trade through our Irish Sea ports.

No one who campaigned to do away with ‘unelected Brussels bureaucrats’ mentioned we would end up with standards set for our basic commodities by an EU Commission and Parliament in which we have no democratic say (as we must abide by those rules without MEPs or UK officials involved in the process).

If you are a unionist, or a carnivore, there is much to ponder.

As a consumer, I will be impacted as much as anyone else. As a pescatarian, I am fervently hoping the latest ‘Eurosausage’ saga does not end up extending to a ban on my favourite vegan sausage rolls.

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• Mark Devenport is a former BBC Northern Ireland political editor

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