Foster plays down reports her party would support time-limited backstop
ARLENE Foster has played down the prospect of her party backing a time-limited backstop, insisting she had only said they would look at it.
The DUP leader yesterday moved to clarify comments made on Sunday on the matter.
On Sunday, while she described the backstop as anti-democratic, Mrs Foster had said her party would “look at” a time-limited version in order to get a Brexit deal by October 31.
The proposal would put a deadline on the arrangement, which is designed to prevent a hard border on the island of Ireland by keeping the UK in the EU customs union and Northern Ireland in large parts of the single market.
“And so in terms of the time-limited backstop, we have said in the past it is something we would look at,” Mrs Foster told a fringe event at the Conservative Party conference.
Yesterday Mrs Foster addressed the issue, saying: “I didn’t say that we would accept that, I said that we would look at it — there is a world of difference.
“When you are asked a direct question ‘would you look at something’, I said that we would look at a time limit — that’s a world away from saying that we were now advocating that, which is what some of the mainstream papers reported yesterday.”
She told a fringe event that the DUP wanted a Brexit deal.
“But to get a deal there needs to be willingness on both sides. I believe that the Prime Minister wants to get a deal that works for the whole of the UK,” she added.
“This Prime Minister will not be leaving Northern Ireland behind in the European Union customs union.”
Political parties rejected any suggestion that a time-limited backstop could be the key to solving the Brexit impasse. Sinn Fein vice-president Michelle O’Neill said the suggestion was “unacceptable”.
“A backstop which is time-limited ceases to be a backstop,” she said.
“The backstop as negotiated contains the bare minimum of protections required as an insurance policy for our business sector and for people in the north.
“The EU have already made it clear that the backstop is not up for renegotiation. The protections contained in the backstop must be maintained and the DUP cannot change that.”
SDLP leader Colum Eastwood said: “A backstop isn’t a backstop if it’s time-limited.”
TUV leader Jim Allister said the problem of the backstop was not a matter of duration, but of content.
“It puts us in the EU single market and, as a consequence, establishes a regulatory border down the Irish Sea.
“If that is not toxic and unacceptable in and of itself, then it is not a matter of time. It’s toxic for one day, never mind one year,” he said.