Truss meets Martin in key engagements
LIZ Truss met three more world leaders, including her Irish counterpart, as hundreds of dignitaries from across the globe descend on London to pay their respects to the Queen.
The talks may be casual, portrayed by No 10 as chats rather than formal bilateral sessions, but the Prime Minister’s meeting with Taoiseach Micheal Martin came against a backdrop of political tensions over postbrexit trading arrangements.
She had been due to meet US president Joe Biden, a milestone of her early premiership, but the talks were cancelled on Saturday, with a “full bilateral meeting” scheduled instead for Wednesday, when they are set to be in New York for the UN General Assembly.
The Taoiseach said he had a “warm” meeting with the Prime Minister, and refrained from answering questions on the Northern Ireland protocol.
“I don’t think this is the time, if you don’t mind me saying so, to get into the detail about issues like the protocol,” he said during an interview on BBC Radio 4, adding that he respects the period of national mourning the UK is currently engaged in.
He continued: “I’ve had a good telephone conversation last week with the British Prime Minister, had an initial warm meeting this morning where we discussed many issues in the context of the British-irish relationship.
“But I do thing the opportunity is there for us to reset relationships and to be conscious of what we achieved in previous years, the obstacles that were overcome then.”
In addition to Mr Martin, Ms Truss met Canadian prime minister Justin Trudeau and Polish president Andrzej Duda in Downing Street yesterday.
The weekend’s talks with world leaders are being framed by No 10 as chats to offer condolences over the Queen’s death, during which politics is likely to come up.
Mr Martin had previously met Ms Truss in person briefly since she became Prime Minister earlier this month.
They were seated next to one another during a memorial service for the Queen at St Anne’s Cathedral in Belfast on Tuesday.
The meeting with Mr Martin came as Britain is expected to push ahead with legislation to give ministers the power to scrap parts of the Northern Ireland Protocol, which was jointly agreed by the UK and EU in order to avoid a hard border on the island of Ireland.
Both the EU and Ireland claim Britain’s move to unilaterally revise the post-brexit treaty would breach international law.
The issue is expected to ramp up ahead of a deadline at the end of October to form a new Northern Ireland Executive, which the DUP has so far blocked in protest over the protocol.
The PM kicked off her meetings with world leaders on Saturday, speaking to her counterparts from New Zealand and Australia. The talks were held at the Government’s Chevening country residence, rather than Chequers, which is said to be undergoing routine maintenance work after Boris Johnson’s exit.