Irish PM has lecture for Britain
Britain must ‘‘come to terms with the fact it’s now a small country’’, the Irish prime minister has said, in comments that prompted outrage just days before Brexit.
Leo Varadkar also suggested the UK could rejoin the EU if Brexit does not ‘‘work out for them’’ and said Brussels would have the ‘‘stronger hand’’ in trade negotiations.
His comments, which come before trade talks begin in March, appeared to be deliberately provocative in a week that will see Britain celebrating its new-found freedom from the EU.
One former Brexit minister suggested Varadkar would serve the Irish people by working ‘‘in harmony’’ with Ireland’s biggest trading partner ‘‘rather than trying to provoke it’’. It came as No 10 announced that ministers would be bypassed in the Brexit trade negotiations, with a team of civil servants called Taskforce Europe, headed by David Frost,
Johnson’s chief Brexit adviser, carrying out talks.
It means there will be no role for Liz Truss, the International Trade Secretary, raising questions about her future ahead of a Cabinet reshuffle.
Varadkar met Michel Barnier, the EU’s chief Brexit negotiator, in Dublin yesterday, after which Barnier warned that ‘‘time is very short’’ to conclude a trade deal by the year’s end.
The Irish premier told the BBC: ‘‘The EU is a union of 27 members states. The UK is only one country. And we have a population and a market of 450 million people. The UK, it’s about 60 (million).
‘‘So if these were two teams up against each other playing football, who do you think has the stronger team? I don’t think the UK has yet come to terms with the fact it’s now a small country.’’
Ireland has a population of five million and a gross domestic product of £315 billion, making it the world’s 46th-largest economy. The UK, with a population of 67 million, has a GDP of £2.3 trillion, and is a member of the G7 group of the world’s most advanced economies, as well as being one of the five permanent members of the UN Security Council.
Varadkar said: ‘‘We hope it works out for them. But if it does not, there will always be a seat kept for them at the table.’’
David Jones, the former Brexit minister, said: ‘‘He is saying that for a domestic audience, because he has an election coming up, but the fact is that Ireland shares far more with Britain than it does with continental Europe.Rather than trying to provoke its most important trading partner, it would do well to work in harmony with it.’’
Johnson again insisted it should be possible to ‘‘wrap all this up’’ by the end of the year. He said: ‘‘We will be doing things very fast, (in a) very friendly and respectful way, and in a way also, I think it’s important to stress, that really ensures we look after the interests of the Republic of Ireland as well.’’
Downing Street confirmed yesterday that Steve Barclay, the Brexit Secretary, will be out of a government job on Friday night, as his department will be abolished as soon as Britain leaves the EU at 11pm. He will have to wait for a reshuffle expected within days of Brexit to find out if Johnson has another ministerial role for him.