Minister is confusing ‘distressed’ European nationals
IRELAND WILL block any attempt by Britain to secure a Brexit deal which allows it to unilaterally halt “backstop” arrangements for the border with Northern Ireland, Taoiseach Leo Varadkar said yesterday.
The Irish premier’s comments in a phone call with Theresa May could cause problems for the Prime Minister as many Tories fear signing up to a backstop deal that keeps the country locked in a trading relationship it cannot get out of alone.
The backstop is designed to ensure there is no hard border in Ireland if the UK and EU fail to reach a broader trade deal and has become the major obstacle to agreement on the UK’s withdrawal from the EU, due to take place in March next year.
During the call, Mrs May said that any agreement would have to include a mechanism to bring an end to the backstop.
Mr Varadkar said he was open to a review mechanism but was strongly opposed to anything which would allow the UK to end the backstop alone. The conversation followed a
report that Brexit Secretary Dominic Raab has privately demanded the right to pull Britain out of the Irish backstop after just three months.
And it came after former Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson denounced the PM’s blueprint as “an absolute stinker”, arguing that the arrangement was a “national humiliation” which would leave the UK as “a vassal state, a colony”.
Meanwhile, the European Commission dismissed reports over the weekend that a Brexit deal has been privately agreed after major concessions from Brussels on the UK-wide temporary customs union that Mrs May is proposing as a backstop plan.
It is designed to meet the concerns of Tories and the Democratic Unionist Party which props up her Government, who are opposed to the Brussels-backed “Northern Ireland only” backstop that would see the province remain under EU rules.
Insisting that negotiations are “ongoing” at a technical level, the Commission’s chief spokesman summed up progress by telling reporters: “Not there yet.”
Expectations are rising that UK negotiator Olly Robbins will be pressing hard to finalise a deal in Brussels this week, to set the scene for a special Brexit summit later in the month to secure the approval of the leaders of the 27 remaining member states.
Mrs May is expected to brief the Cabinet on progress in talks when members gather for their weekly meeting at 10 Downing Street today.
But the EU’s chief negotiator Michel Barnier is spending three days away from Brussels on visits to Finland and Slovakia.
A Downing Street spokesman described Mrs May’s conversation with Mr Varadkar as “constructive”, adding: “They agreed that the intention was that the backstop should only be a temporary arrangement and that the best solution to the Northern Ireland border would be found by agreeing a future relationship between the UK and the EU.
“In order to ensure that the backstop, if ever needed, would be temporary, the Prime Minister said that there would need to be a mechanism through which the backstop could be brought to an end.”
A spokesman for the Taoiseach said: “The Prime Minister raised the possibility of a review mechanism for the backstop.
“The Taoiseach indicated an openness to consider proposals for a review, provided that it was clear that the outcome of any such review could not involve a unilateral decision to end the backstop.
“He recalled the prior commitments made that the backstop must apply ‘unless and until’ alternative arrangements are agreed.”
Meanwhile, Mr Johnson dismissed reports that Mrs May could agree a future economic partnership that would leave open the possibility of a Canada-style free trade deal sought by Brexiteers, describing it as “a Christmas present of the finest old Brussels fudge”. MINISTERS HAVE been warned against causing further confusion over the post-Brexit future of EU citizens living in the UK.
Shadow Home Secretary Diane Abbott spoke of the “very real distress” that mixed messages from the Government have caused more than three million EU citizens, their families and employers – warning the “clock is ticking” and further details are required soon.
Immigration Minister Caroline Nokes earlier reaffirmed that EU citizens resident in the UK before Brexit will be “welcome to stay”.
Ms Nokes made the comment in the Commons following her suggestion last week that employers would be expected to check whether EU nationals have the right to work in the UK if there is a no-deal Brexit.
Ms Abbott told the Commons: “Does the Minister accept that as we move towards leaving the EU, this type of confusion over policy is simply not acceptable?
“It’s not just the good faith of government that she’s calling into question, but it’s people’s lives that we are playing with and does the Minister accept finally that it simply isn’t good enough to come before this House and talk about further information being provided in due course.
“It is five months to go and the clock is ticking, and we want no further confusions of this nature.”
West Yorkshire MP Yvette Cooper forced Ms Nokes to appear before MPs after securing an urgent question.
Ms Nokes earlier said: “The Prime Minister has already confirmed all EU citizens resident here by the 29 March 2019 will be welcome to stay, they are part of our community and part of our country and we welcome the contribution they make.”
“We will set out further details shortly, so those affected can have the clarity and certainty they need,” she added.
Ms Cooper, chair of the Home Affairs Committee, said she remained “none the wiser” about the status of EU citizens in the event of a no-deal.