Leo: I never agreed to time-limited North backstop in PM call
THE Taoiseach never agreed that a special Northern Ireland trade agreement ‘should only be a temporary arrangement’ during a phone call with Theresa May, his officials yesterday insisted.
A statement from Downing Street suggested Leo Varadkar was open to a time-limited backstop, but this was dubbed ‘disingenuous’ by sources close to the Fine Gael leader.
And a senior official in the Department of Foreign Affairs said Mrs May had ‘overplayed’ what Mr Varadkar had agreed to during the phone call.
The Government has long insisted Northern Ireland should have a customs agreement with the EU, the so-called ‘backstop’, regardless of what else is agreed between the EU and the UK.
Fears of a no-deal Brexit edged closer yesterday after a clear breakdown in communication between Ireland and the UK over the nature of the call.
Before speaking with Mrs May yesterday, the Taoiseach said his Government ‘couldn’t countenance’ a backstop with an expiry date, which he said ‘isn’t worth the paper it’s written on’.
British prime minister Mrs May sought to speak to Mr Varadkar to offer reassurances on the backstop for avoiding a hard border, after her Brexit Secretary Dominic Raab demanded the right to pull the UK out of the Northern Ireland agreement after just three months.
In a statement after the phone call, Downing Street issued a statement saying: ‘They agreed the intention was that the backstop should only be a temporary arrangement and that the best solution would be found by agreeing the future relationship between the UK and the EU.’
However, the Taoiseach’s spokesman insisted: ‘The backstop must be available to apply, unless and until alternative arrangements are agreed. The hope is that the backstop will not be needed at all, or will only be needed for a period of time until the future relationship comes into effect.’
Sources close to the negotiations told the Irish Daily Mail the backstop has always been considered temporary in nature, insofar as it will apply ‘unless and until’ alternative solutions for avoiding a hard border are found. A review mechanism after which it will no longer apply has been set out ‘in black and white’ since late last year, they added.
‘The requirements for avoiding a backstop were set out clearly last December. It’s all there in black and white. The trade deal alternative, the adherence to safety and quality standards,’ a source close to Mr Varadkar said, referencing the provisions set out in Paragraph 49 of the December Joint Report on Brexit. They continued: ‘Why are they pushing for a new review process now – you’d have to ask No 10 Downing Street that. We do not attempt to second-guess what is happening in Westminster. Our focus is solely on avoiding a hard border in Ireland.’
Some felt the statement issued by Downing Street following the call had been worded in such a way as to give the impression that Mrs May had secured new concessions from Ireland. Mr Varadkar was unequivocal in his opposition to a time-limited backstop shortly before speaking to the prime minister yesterday. He said: ‘A backstop with a three-month limit on it, or an expiry date of that nature, isn’t worth the paper it’s written on.
‘And what the UK government has signed up to is a legally operative backstop that will apply unless and until we have a new agreement to supersede it.’
Speaking to reporters, Mr Varadkar lashed out at the discord within the UK government that has severely hampered the negotiations. He said: ‘To be honest, it’s been a problem all along. The United Kingdom in many ways is a divided kingdom. The people are split 50:50 on whether they want to leave the European Union or not, the cabinet seems divided, the government seems divided, parliament is divided.
‘And that has made it very difficult to come to an agreement.’
Fianna Fáil is said to be concerned about the latest developments regarding the backstop. A senior party figure suggested the fresh commitment to a review could ‘open a can of worms’ that will ‘chip away at the backstop’.
Downing Street ‘disingenuous’