Quit the EU and join UK!
That’s the outrageous suggestion of veteran host John Humphrys on how to break Brexit deadlock
A BBC radio presenter has outraged Irish politicians by suggesting the current deadlock in Brexit negotiations could be solved by Ireland leaving the EU.
Veteran broadcaster John Humphrys was interviewing Minister for European Affairs Helen McEntee in the wake of Taoiseach Leo Varadkar’s controversial comments at Davos, where he raised the prospect of having an Army and physical infrastructure at the border in Northern Ireland. It is the first time the Taoiseach has raised the worst-case scenario prospects for an Irish border, after repeatedly refusing to confirm if it would need to be heavily policed.
On BBC Radio 4’s flagship Today programme yesterday, after wrongly claiming that 50% of Irish exports go to the UK, Mr Humphrys concluded the interview by asking Ms McEntee if ‘instead of Dublin telling this country [the UK] that we have to stay within the single market etc, why doesn’t Dublin, why doesn’t the Republic of Ireland, leave the EU and throw in their lot with this country?’
Ms McEntee, who was calm and measured during the interview, was quick to correct the inaccurate statistics and point to the continued support of the Irish people for the European Union.
‘Well, firstly I need to clarify statistics. Maybe years ago our exports were at that figure, 50%, but our exports now in total to the UK are 13-14%… to suggest that we should leave [the EU], 92% of Irish people last year said that they wanted Ireland to remain part of the EU and, since Brexit, that figure has gotten only bigger,’ she said.
She also told Mr Humphreys that the onus was on the UK to protect the Good Friday Agreement and not do anything that would compromise it, such as erecting a physical border: ‘We are protecting a peace
‘There’s absolutely no question of Ireland leaving the EU’
process. There is an obligation on the UK to ensure that the peace process, the Good Friday Agreement, is protected. And any suggestion that they can walk away from that, we simply won’t accept that.
‘We’re not asking you to change your red lines, we’re asking you to respect that you have an obligation to an international peace treaty, which you signed long before Brexit took place and, for us, the Good Friday Agreement, is much more important that Brexit.’
Mr Humphrys accused Ms McEntee of being sounding ‘a bit arrogant’. He told Ms McEntee: ‘Leo Varadkar said we would have to agree, including the UK, on full alignment of customs and regulation. This country voted by a majority in that referendum to leave the EU’s customs and regulations. There can be no question about that. It sounds a bit arrogant on this side that what you’re saying is that you will have to go along with something that you voted to leave.’
Fianna Fáil TD for Mayo and deputy leader Dara Calleary, described questioning Ireland exiting the EU as ‘disconcerting’ and fobbed off the suggestion that it was a plausible solution.
‘There’s absolutely no question of Ireland leaving the EU. There’s huge support for Ireland’s continued support of the EU. Opinion poll after opinion poll shows that, and leaving the EU is not an answer to the challenge of Brexit.
‘It’s a little bit disconcerting that someone as experienced as John Humphrys would think that is an answer,’ he said.
Humphrys’ line of questioning also shocked politicians in the UK, with Labour MP Ben Bradshaw tweeting: ‘Gobsmacked to hear John Humphrys suggest to an amazingly calm Irish politician that the
solution to #Brexitshambles is for Ireland to leave the EU & rejoin the UK! Such woeful ignorance of history & modern day Ireland. #PeoplesVote,’ he tweeted.
Fine Gael senator Neale Richmond tweeted his support for Ms McEntee on a ‘sterling Brexit performance’ and remarked this is what Ireland ‘was dealing with’.
Separately, hundreds of people gathered along the border in Co. Louth to demonstrate against the increasing threat of a hard border as Britain prepares to crash out of the EU on March 29.
Organisers built a mock wall across part of the border, which was broken down by a man with a sledgehammer.
Following Mr Varadkar’s border comments in Davos this week, Government ministers said last night that he would have been better off staying at home to deal with hardBrexit preparations.
TDs said the increased frequency of Mr Varadkar’s needlessly controversial statements – particularly when under an international spotlight – would damage the party come an election.
Although Fine Gael has not fallen below 30% in the polls since Mr Varadkar became Taoiseach, there has been no significant surge either.
A Fine Gael TD said that the party might fall back in an election campaign if the Taoiseach doesn’t move to close his ‘loose lips’.
‘It’s a real worry,’ said a minister. ‘If he’s saying damaging things when he is under no real pressure, what is he going to do in the white heat of a general election campaign.
‘In a campaign he will be interviewed every day and hold press conferences every day and if you start slagging off beef or going off message about Brexit now, God knows what will happen in a fourweek campaign.’
Fine Gael TDs pointed out that world leaders such as Theresa May, Donald Trump, Emmanuel Macron and Vladimir Putin stayed at home to deal with pressing domestic issues.
However, at least one minister supported Mr Varadkar’s border outburst. ‘It was co-ordinated,’ he said, ‘Helen McEntee said pretty much the same thing on BBC news. It’s about cranking up pressure on the British.
‘People think the European Commission spokesman made a mistake when he said those things about the hard border last week.
‘He didn’t. This is all co-ordinated and its all about pressurising the British.’
‘Gobsmacked to hear Humphrys’ suggestion’