No surrender on Brexit deal
Leo says no change to backstop dup blow hole in May plan hopes
DEFIANT Leo Varadkar insisted yesterday he will not accept any change to the Brexit deal that wrecks the backstop.
He spoke as the DUP dashed Theresa May’s hopes of winning support for her plan.
The Taoiseach said the threat of a no-deal scenario was not of Ireland or the EU’S making, and he was looking to the UK to propose a viable solution.
He added: “It is up to them to make a proposal but it has to be a proposal that we can accept.
“It can’t be a proposal that contradicts what’s already in the Withdrawal Agreement.
“It can’t be something that renders the backstop inoperable.”
Mr Varadkar made the comments after his first Cabinet meeting of 2019. Ministers discussed no-deal contingency preparations in detail following the publication of the Government’s action plan last month.
He said he had spoken to German Chancellor Angela Merkel by phone yesterday morning at her request and both leaders had decided to stand by the agreement.
The Taoiseach said about 45 pieces of legislation will need to be approved if a Brexit deal is not reached.
But he said he would not be bringing any of them to the Dail before March as he did not want to
“tie up” parliamentary proceedings with legislation that may not be needed.
In its action plan the Government warned no deal would have “severe macroeconomic, trade and sectoral impacts” on the country.
The more than 130-page document aims to minimise any potential risk of disruption from additional checks. It includes the recruitment of 600 customs officer posts, as well as extra staff for the Revenue Commissioners and the Department of Agriculture.
Mr Varadkar added he had “given up speculating” on the potential outcome of Brexit.
Meanwhile, British Prime Minister Mrs May failed to convince the DUP to back her plan.
The party’s Westminster leader Nigel Dodds said after a Downing Street meeting: “The Withdrawal Agreement, as currently proposed, flies in the face of the government’s commitments on Northern Ireland as we leave the EU.”
Nearly seven in 10 Tories think the UK Government is bungling Brexit negotiations, a poll reveals today.