BCAB meet EU’s Guy Verhofstadt

THE local Border Communities Against Brexit (BCAB) group travelled to Strasboug last week to meet EU negotiators as Brexit talks entered a crucial final phase.

The group, who are made up of businesspeople and residents of the border area, met with the European Parliament’s Brexit coordinator Guy Verhofstadt who issued a warning last week that the withdrawal agreement needed to prevent a no deal was ‘0 per cent done’ because of the lack of a solution to the Irish border issue.

‘Progress on the Brexit negotiations can be 90 per cent, 95 per cent or even 99 per cent,’ Mr Verhofstadt said. ‘As long as there is no solution for the Irish border, as long as the Good Friday agreement is not fully secured, for us in our parliament progress is 0 per cent. It is said that we have made between 90% and 95% progress through the Brexit negotiations, yet there is zero percent progress if there is no solution on the Irish Border.’

A spokesman for BCAB said ‘Meeting Guy Verhofstadt in Strasbourg, it was so positive to hear that the EU is resolutely behind the Backstop agreed between the EU and British Government.’

He told the border group of the need to ‘ stop the Irish Border being used as a bargaining chip in the future Brexit negotiations.’

‘BCAB are very reassured that the EU parliament negotiator is determined to get a deal and that the Irish Backstop must be part of the withdrawal agreement,’ said the spokesman.