TOUGH MAY STANDS UP TO THE EU IN NEW BREXIT ROW
THERESA May accused Eurocrats yesterday of trying to loosen Britain’s constitutional ties by keeping Northern Ireland under Brussels rule after Brexit.
In an angry response to a draft EU treaty, Mrs May told Parliament: “No UK prime minster could ever agree to it.”
Furious Tory MPs also accused EU negotiators of attempting to “annexe” Northern Ireland.
Mrs May’s terse response came after the publication of the proposed treaty document by the European Commission’s chief Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier.
It said a “common regulatory area” should be set up to include Northern Ireland to avoid the need for customs checks at the border with the Irish Republic, which is in the EU.
The release of the 118-page document triggered angry exchanges at Prime Minister’s Questions in the Commons yesterday.
Mrs May told MPs she would make her refusal to accept the proposals “absolutely clear” to European Commission president Jean-Claude Juncker.
Frustration
She said the proposals would “undermine the UK common market and threaten the constitutional integrity of the UK by creating a customs and regulatory border down the Irish Sea”.
She insisted: “No UK prime minster could ever agree to it.
“I will be making it crystal clear to president Juncker and others that we will never do so.”
Mrs May was understood to be irritated that the draft treaty contained starkly different text to an earlier document agreed by the British and EU negotiating teams last December.
Earlier, Mr Barnier had signalled his frustration at progress made so far in Brexit negotiations, saying: “We must pick up the pace.”
He was forced to dismiss allegations that the EU was “arrogant” and attempting to “shock” Britain into concluding a Brexit deal.
“There is no arrogance here,” the EU diplomat claimed at a news conference in Brussels. He said the EU was “preparing for every situation” in case negotiations collapse and Britain quits without a deal. He also denied the proposal for keeping the province in the customs union would loosen constitutional ties between Northern Ireland and the rest of the UK.
“Daily life around the border should continue as today,” he said, insisting the proposal was simply a “backstop” solution.
The European Parliament’s Brexit negotiator Guy Verhofstadt said he supported Michel Barnier’s “overall approach”.
He said: “The European Parliament’s commitment to Ireland remains steadfast.
“If we cannot find a negotiated settlement to avoid any hardening of the border, then it is important to have a backstop in place to maintain the free flow of goods and products on the island of Ireland. But all sides have been clear that this is a fall-back option.”
Tory backbencher David Jones, a former minister at the Department for Exiting the EU, said the draft treaty was “completely unacceptable” and an attempt to annexe Northern Ireland.
He said: “What is proposed is that Northern Ireland should remain part of the customs union.
“It should effectively be part of the single market and should, I understand, remain subject to the European Court of Justice.
“That effectively amounts to an annexure by the EU.”
He also said the plan could risk peace in Northern Ireland.
Meanwhile, Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson has accused hardline Remainers of attempting to exploit the border dispute in an attempt to sabotage Brexit.
Speaking to reporters after returning from a jog in the snow,
he said: “The issue of the Northern Irish border is being used politically to try to keep the UK in the customs union – effectively the single market – so we can’t really leave the EU. That is what’s going on.”
This week he wrote to the Prime Minister proposing several solutions to the Irish border issue.
Mr Johnson said his 18-page letter showed “there are very good solutions” that would prevent a hard border for goods crossing the Irish border, while “allowing the UK to come out of the customs union, take back control of our tariffs schedules, take back control of our commercial policy, take back control of our regulation”.
MPs in Northern Ireland’s Democratic Unionist Party, which backs Mrs May’s Brexit plans, were also furious about the draft treaty.
DUP MP Nigel Dodds said: “This is a ludicrous, over-the-top suggestion put forward by Michel Barnier.
“The way forward is to get into the trade talks and only then will you know what the border arrangements need to be.”
And Ukip MEP Gerard Batten, acting leader of the anti-Brussels party, said: “The EU is trying to divide Northern Ireland away from the UK and attempting to undermine and reverse the referendum.
“The Commission must not be allowed to annexe Northern Ireland or put a disruptive hard border in place. There are a number of solutions to the border issue.”
SO WITH every day that passes the attempts by the EU to cause problems for the UK over Brexit become increasingly blatantly designed to punish us rather than coming up with anything that is actually workable.
But yesterday was the worst example yet: the EU was seeking to loosen the UK’s constitutional ties by laying claim to Northern Ireland, an area that, as it very well knows, has long been the most turbulent and difficult part of the realm.
At least in doing so the EU has shown how low it will stoop. Other member states are going to notice that it is prepared to undermine a country’s sovereignty (although given the nature of the institution there should be no surprises there) for no other reason than to punish it. What will that say to a country such as Spain and its ongoing issues in Catalonia?
This also risks blowing up in its face in the eyes of the British public: this country does not like being bullied and even committed Remoaners are likely to resent having their own country undermined by the EU.
The Prime Minister is sometimes accused of lacking passion, not so yesterday. She rounded on the EU in the manner it totally deserved, condemned its tactics out of hand and stood up for her country with all the fire and fury one could have wished for. Not for the first time she did the UK proud.