Don’t break up Britain, Theresa warns Brussels
THERESA May last night rejected ‘unacceptable’ EU plans to use Brexit to break Northern Ireland away from the rest of the UK.
Officials will publish proposals today which could keep the province subject to EU rules indefinitely, effectively breaking up the country.
They claim the ‘backstop’ provision is needed to ensure there is no return to a so-called ‘hard border’ on the island of Ireland. Brussels will also insist that the final Brexit deal is policed by the European Court of Justice – a move already rejected by the Prime Minister.
Downing Street reacted angrily last night after the proposals were leaked to Irish broadcaster RTE.
A senior government source said: ‘The EU should be absolutely clear the Prime Minister is not going to sign up to anything that threatens the constitutional integrity of the UK or its common market.
‘Nor will we accept the ECJ as the final arbiter of the agreement.’ One insider stressed the plan from Brussels is only a ‘draft negotiating position by the EU, not a final binding text’.
But another source predicted the EU revival of ‘unacceptable’ proposals on Northern Ireland would cause a ‘massive row’. The development came as Boris Johnson came under fire after leaked documents revealed he had downplayed the Irish issue and told Mrs May the task was to ‘stop this border becoming significantly harder’.
Ex-Tory leader Lord Hague has also warned rebel MPs that siding with Labour in a Commons vote on the customs union could usher in a socialist government.
Former PM Sir John Major is set to urge pro-Remain MPs to ‘show leadership’ by rejecting government plans for a clean break with the EU.
Meanwhile ministers are prepared to back down on a threat to strip EU citizens arriving after March next year of automatic residency rights.
Ministers have also attacked a former Whitehall mandarin for saying the benefits of Brexit would be no more than a ‘packet of crisps’.
First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said it was ‘highly likely’ the Scottish Parliament would reject vital Brexit legislation, setting up a constitutional clash with Westminster.