Fox: Drop backstop and we can negotiate
LEADING Brexiteer Liam Fox has said a Brexit deal can be reached if the Irish Government agrees to an alternative to the EU Withdrawal Agreement ‘backstop’, which would prevent a hard border with the North.
Dr Fox, Britain’s international trade secretary, said a new deal instead would help ensure there would be no hard border between Northern Ireland and the Republic.
But Tánaiste Simon Coveney insisted no alternative was possible – effectively confirming there is little prospect of a renegotiation before the UK’s withdrawal from the EU on March 29.
Dr Fox said one way to break the deadlock could be an agreement with Dublin on an ‘alternative mechanism’ to the backstop, which is a key stumbling block for many MPs at Westminster.
‘I’m not asking them to change their position. We actually agree that no matter what, there should be an agreement that ensures that there’s no hard border between the United Kingdom and Ireland,’ Dr Fox told the BBC’s Andrew Marr Show yesterday. ‘The question is: Can we achieve what the Irish Government wants and what we want by a different mechanism?’
On Twitter, Mr Coveney, who is also Minister for Foreign Affairs, reiterated that Dublin remained committed to the backstop.
He wrote: ‘The Irish Government’s commitment to the entire Withdrawal Agreement is absolute – including the backstop.’
Mr Coveney also rejected a claim from Dominic Raab – Britain’s former Brexit secretary – that the Tánaiste previously did not rule out an exit mechanism for the UK from the ‘backstop’ deal.
Mr Raab yesterday said Mr Coveney made it ‘very clear’ to him in a previous meeting that he ‘wasn’t ruling things out’.
The Brexiteer told The Andrew Marr Show he ‘met Simon Coveney – and I want to respect the integrity – but he was very clear he wasn’t ruling things out’.
He said that an exit mechanism was ruled out by Taoiseach Leo Varadkar, whom he described as ‘less moderate than Simon Coveney’.
He added: ‘They have taken this incredibly, deeply political view on the backstop which has got nothing to do with the realities of solving and avoiding the return of a hard border, and now we need to make sure that there is a ladder for them to climb down.’
Mr Coveney rejected this, saying: ‘For the record, the Taoiseach and I have always been on the same page on Brexit and we remain united and focused on protecting Ireland. That includes continued support for the EU/UK-agreed Withdrawal Agreement in full, including the backstop as negotiated.’
It comes as the House of Commons is gripped by two sets of MPs attempting to use the Houses of Parliament’s rules to stall Brexit. At least two cross-party groups of MPs are planning to table amendments to enable backbenchers to take control of the business of the house to delay or frustrate prime minister Theresa May’s Brexit plans.
A group led by Tory Nick Boles and senior Labour MP Yvette Cooper is trying to block a no-deal Brexit. And a second, led by the former British attorney general Dominic Grieve, is said to want to go further and suspend the Article 50 EU withdrawal process.
‘Can we achieve what we all want?’