PM ‘can’t be trusted to keep to trade deals’
Varadkar hits out at Johnson over Brexit
PRIME Minister Boris Johnson can’t be trusted on the international stage, Ireland’s deputy Prime Minister has warned.
Leo Varadkar, the former Taoiseach of Ireland, accused the UK
being a nation that “doesn’t necessarily keep its word” as the UK row with the EU over Northern Ireland deepened.
Varadkar spoke after Dominic Cummings, Johnson’s former adviser, suggested the UK had always intended to tear up the Brexit deal it signed with the EU in 2019 which left Northern Ireland inside the EU Single Market.
Johnson fought the election that year on a “Get Brexit done” platform, repeatedly claiming the withdrawal agreement he negotiated with Brussels – including the Northern Ireland Protocol – was “oven ready”.
Cummings claimed in a series of tweets that he planned “to get the trolley (his derogatory name for the PM) to ditch bits we didn’t like after whacking (Labour leader Jeremy) Corbyn”.
He added that Johnson didn’t understand the agreement he struck with the European Union.
Cummings said: “What I’ve said does NOT mean the PM was lying in General Election 2019, he never had a scoobydoo what the deal he signed meant. He never understood what leaving Customs Union meant until November 2020.” Varadkar said: “Those comments are very alarming because that would indicate that this is a Government, an administration, that acted in bad faith and that message needs to be heard around the world. “If the British Governof ment doesn’t honour its agreements, it doesn’t adhere to treaties it signs, that must apply to everyone else too.”
The move came as the EU outlined proposals aimed at resolving the political stand-off with the UK over Northern Ireland.
European Commission vice-president Maros Sefcovic promised the measures will reduce the number of checks required on goods being shipped there from the rest of the UK.
The measures may go some way to reducing friction on trade but they are unlikely to satisfy a UK Government demand over the role of the European Court of Justice.
On Tuesday, UK Brexit minister Lord Frost made clear the replacement of the ECJ’s oversight of the protocol with an independent arbitration process was a red line.