‘No border, but we want changes to the backstop’
THERESA May has told an audience in Belfast that her commitment to preventing a hard border is ‘unshakeable’, but she will seek changes to the backstop.
The UK prime minister distanced herself from talk that her government will seek to abandon the backstop altogether, promising an ‘insurance policy’ will form part of any Brexit deal.
However, she was accused of acting in bad faith by Sinn Féin, having last week whipped the Conservative party to vote for an amendment that would replace the backstop, through which Northern Ireland would have free trade with the EU.
Speaking in Belfast yesterday, the prime minister reinforced her commitment to avoiding a hard border, saying: ‘The UK government will not let that happen. I will not let that happen.’ She added she would not ask the people of Northern Ireland to accept a Brexit deal without a backstop.
‘I’m not proposing to persuade people to accept a deal that doesn’t contain that insurance policy for the future,’ she said. ‘What parliament has said is that they believe there should be changes made to the backstop.’
It was in that light that she was working with MPs, the Irish Government and the EU to find a way to meet the commitment to exit the EU on March 29 with a deal which avoided a hard border, she said.
Challenged over whether she had made a U-turn, Mrs May said: ‘There is no suggestion that we are not going to ensure that in the future there is provision for this – it’s been called an insurance policy, the backstop – that ensures if the future relationship is not in place by the end of the implementation period, there will be arrangements in place to ensure that we deliver no hard border.’
Downing Street said the UK gov- ernment was looking at a series of ‘work streams’ – including putting in place alternative arrangements to the backstop, or changing it to include a time limit or an exit mechanism. However, time limits and exit mechanisms have been repeatedly dismissed by Brussels and Dublin.
Mrs May will meet with the political parties in the North today and will travel to Brussels for discussions with EU leaders tomorrow.
The Taoiseach, meanwhile, is in Brussels today for meetings with Jean Claude Juncker and Donald Tusk, and will travel North to meet the DUP, Sinn Féin and others on Friday.
In her speech to an audience of Northern Irish business leaders, Mrs May said she wanted to ‘affirm my commitment to delivering a Brexit that ensures no return to a hard border between Northern Ireland and Ireland, which is unshakable.’
The PM acknowledged the importance of a seamless border and how the current arrangements had helped ‘deliver peace and prosperity’.
‘The UK government will not let that happen. I will not let that happen.’
A spokesman for the Taoiseach said he welcomed the fresh commitment made by Theresa May, but would have to ‘wait and see’ what proposals she will make on the backstop.
She was heavily criticised by Sinn Féin leader Mary Lou McDonald, who said she would challenge the PM on her ‘bad faith negotiations’ during their meeting today.
Reinforced commitment to avoid hard border