![](https://www.cer.eu/sites/default/files/styles/spotlight/public/sign_nireland_sl_0.jpg?itok=JSmbgAsM)
Time to suck up the backstop
Samuel Lowe at the Centre for European Reform tells the Brits it’s finally time to swallow the EU’s “special status” for Northern Ireland and accept a border in the Irish Sea: A serious British response to the commission, focused on improving the backstop rather than rejecting it out of hand, will move the Brexit negotiations forward. More importantly, it will help to ensure that no matter what happens with Brexit, the UK’s departure from the EU does not make the Irish border a focus of conflict again.