Congress will block a post-Brexit trade deal if it undermines Good Friday Agreement, Trump warned
Nancy Pelosi. Photograph: Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call. - Credit: SIPA USA/PA Images
The speaker of the US House of Representatives has said that a US-UK post-Brexit trade deal will be blocked by congress if it undermines the Good Friday Agreement.
Nancy Pelosi, whose Democrat party controls the House, said that Brexit must not endanger peace in Ireland.
Her comments follow those made by Donald Trump's US national securty adviser John Bolton who said the UK would be "first in line" for a trade deal with America.
He insisted the micro-deals would receive overwhelming "bilateral" agreement in congress.
He said: "The ultimate end result is a comprehensive trade agreement covering all trading goods and services," he said. "But to get to that you could do it sector by sector, and you can do it in a modular fashion. In other words, you can carve out some areas where it might be possible to reach a bilateral agreement very quickly, very straightforwardly."
You may also want to watch:
But Pelosi warned: "Whatever form it takes, Brexit cannot be allowed to imperil the Good Friday Agreement, including the seamless border between the Irish Republic and Northern Ireland, especially now, as the first generation born into the hope of Good Friday 21 years ago comes into adulthood. We cannot go back."
Most Read
- 1 The biggest scandal may be that no rules were broken
- 2 A chapter is over for Britain, for good or ill
- 3 Russell Kane: Why working class people like Boris Johnson
- 4 BBC journalist admits being 'haunted' by fear broadcaster 'built up' Nigel Farage and UKIP
- 5 Welsh government takes Westminster to court over post-Brexit bill
- 6 Alan Duncan should have spoken out sooner about Boris Johnson
- 7 The deep-seated issues beneath Sofagate
- 8 Ulster Unionism's crisis of faith
- 9 The only Brexit export boom is from UK businesses rushing to Europe
- 10 EU president faces fresh calls to resign over 'disastrous' Covid vaccine programme
She added: "If Brexit undermines the Good Friday accord, there will be no chance of a U.S.-U.K. trade agreement passing the Congress.
"The peace of the Good Friday Agreement is treasured by the American people and will be fiercely defended on a bicameral and bipartisan basis in the United States Congress."
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.
