Six days after Boris Johnson became Prime Minister, he only had a telephone conversation with his Irish colleague Leo Varadkar. According to British and Irish media, that is curiously late, given the good relations between the two neighbouring countries.
With this, Johnson may want to increase the tension about the “backstop”, a settlement across the border with Northern Ireland that Theresa May had reached during negotiations with the EU and that Johnson finds unacceptable.
The “backstop” (safety net) must prevent a genuine border between the British part of Ireland (Northern Ireland) and the Republic of Ireland.
The ‘backstop’ therefore stipulates that Northern Ireland will remain with the EU and will remain in a customs union with the rest of the United Kingdom as long as negotiations on trade relations between Brussels and London are not within the agreed two years rounded.
This is an abomination in the eyes of the “brexiteers”, because their departure from the EU may only remain symbolic for an indefinite period.