Video
It’s the Irish backstop - not my Brexit plans - risking peace in Northern Ireland, claims PM
Boris Johnson in the House of Commons. Photograph: PA Wire. - Credit: PA
Boris Johnson has claimed that it is the Irish backstop that is risking peace in Northern Ireland rather than his plans for a no-deal Brexit.
Boris Johnson has claimed that it is the Irish backstop that is risking peace in Northern Ireland rather than his plans for a no-deal Brexit.
Answering a question from independent MP Lady Hermon, the prime minister said that it was not his plans that was in contravention of the Belfast agreement
To cries of "rubbish" from MPs, he said: "Actually it is the backstop and the Withdrawal Agreement that undermines the balance of the Good Friday Agreement.
"Because after all, in important matters, it gives a greater preponderance to the voice of Dublin in the affairs of Northern Ireland than it does the UK.
You may also want to watch:
"That is simple fact and I don't think it is widely enough understood.
"So that is one of the reasons why the Withdrawal Agreement itself is in conflict with the Good Friday Agreement."
Most Read
- 1 Brexiteer Prue Leith quits Tory Party after government votes down motion to protect UK food standards
- 2 Public slams Brexit Party tweet which shames Tory MPs who voted against free school meals
- 3 Piers Morgan must expose the government's Brexit betrayal
- 4 Group in protest against Tory MPs who voted down free school meals targets offices with empty plates
- 5 Peers set to remove law-breaking sections of Boris Johnson's Brexit bill
- 6 Tory minister blames journalists for NHS Test and Trace failure as he defends Dido Harding
- 7 Michel Barnier postpones Brussels return as Brexit trade talks in London continue
- 8 Brexit shambles: A stress of our own making
- 9 Priti Patel set to hand private firms £28 million in government contracts to deport asylum seekers from UK
- 10 Boris Johnson and Priti Patel urged to end 'attacks' on lawyers in letter by 800 legal professionals
Lady Hermon accused Boris Johnson of treating the "Good Friday Agreement with such a careless and cavalier manner".
She said: "That agreement has kept peace and stability in Northern Ireland since it was signed 21 years ago.
She asked Johnson about reports that the crime solictor's office in Belfast had advised the government "that a no-deal Brexit would be in contravention of the Good Friday Agreement" and called for the government to publish in full any legal advice he had received on this.
But Johnson said he had "not seen" any such advice, so would not be publishing it.
Become a Supporter
The New European is proud of its journalism and we hope you are proud of it too. We believe our voice is important - both in representing the pro-EU perspective and also to help rebalance the right wing extremes of much of the UK national press. If you value what we are doing, you can help us by making a contribution to the cost of our journalism.
