Leo’s Brexit stance branded ‘nonsense’
Unionists reject Taoiseach’s claim they offer no solutions to border question
THE Taoiseach’s comments on Brexit have been sharply criticised as ‘nonsense’ by hard-line Unionists and Brexiteer Tory MPs.
Leo Varadkar has spoken out against advocates of a hard Brexit who have had 14 months to offer their own border proposals but have failed to do so.
On Friday, Mr Varadkar identified three alternative post-Brexit possibilities. He suggested that there could be a customs union similar to that between the EU and Turkey, or that the UK could rejoin the European Free Trade Association whose members include Norway. He also said there could be a further transition period.
Although the Taoiseach appears to have moved away from suggesting that the border might be moved to the Irish Sea, tensions between him and hard-line DUP and Conservative MPs are still running high.
Former deputy UUP leader John Taylor claimed: ‘Leo Varadkar is talking a lot of nonsense and, worse still, he is provoking a lot of anger within the majority community in Northern Ireland.’
Post-Brexit Northern Ireland ‘will continue to be one of the four nations in the UK. It is a joke to say I may have to produce my passport to attend our National Parliament in Westminster’ he said.
Tory MP Andrew Rosindell, who has previously suggested that the BBC should play God Save the Queen every night to mark Brexit, warned ‘creating a legal barrier between Northern Ireland and Great Britain would not be helpful at all’.
Mr Rosindell suggested a return to the 1960s scenario where ‘there was a common travel area between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland, before the UK was a member of the EU’.
He rejected the claims that Brexiteers had no solutions and said ‘the [British] government will deliver a practical solution that works in everyone’s interests’.
The DUP’s Jeffrey Donaldson also criticised Mr Varadkar, claiming ‘since Enda Kenny and Charlie Flanagan departed the scene, confusion seems to be the order of the day’.
Mr Donaldson, writing in the Irish Times, claimed Mr Varadkar had engaged in a series of intemperate outbursts and inconsistent and incoherent messages.
The DUP MP said in the absence of a UK Brexit deal with the EU, it was ‘clearly nonsensical’ to spell out new border arrangements.
However, Fine Gael sources have hit back at the DUP, arguing: ‘Unionists have difficulty dealing with the reality that Leo has turned the snooze button off when it comes to Northern policy.’
They added: ‘Charlie Flanagan was excellent, but Northern policy is the Taoiseach’s job and Enda was asleep at the wheel for the last year. He was more of a minister for tourism than a Taoiseach.’
However, they warned that Unionists will just have to realise ‘there is a new sheriff in town who actually wants to resolve issues as distinct to merely gliding along’.
Meanwhile, British Prime Minister Theresa May was lambasted for having no Brexit ‘plan B’ yesterday – as she prepared to set out demands for the EU.
Mrs May was accused by former Bank of England governor Mervyn King of ‘wasting’ a year.
The pro-Brexit member of the House of Lords said Mrs May’s failure to spell out a ‘fallback’ position meant her threat to walk away if talks broke down was ‘not credible’.
His comments came as it emerged Mrs May will begin a ‘big push’ on Brexit when she returns from holiday. It follows criticism of the UK Government for failing to prepare for the next round of talks at the end of this month. Brexit Secretary David Davis was called slapdash after arriving at the first round of talks last month with no notes while his European counterparts had bundles of documents.
‘Provoking a lot of anger within Unionist community’