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Ben Haugh, Cate McCurry, David Young
The Times
Ben Haugh, Cate McCurry, David Young
The Times
Boris Johnson and Leo Varadkar will hold talks on Brexit and Northern Ireland in Dublin on Monday.
The British prime minister announced the trip during a dramatic day in the House of Commons yesterday in which he lost his working majority and control of Brexit. Phillip Lee crossed the floor and joined the Liberal Democrats as Mr Johnson was addressing MPs for only the second time since entering No 10.
MPs then took control of the Commons agenda by 328 votes to 301, meaning that legislation forcing Mr Johnson to secure a delay to Brexit beyond October 31 is likely to pass today. This would mean he would have to break his “do or die” pledge to leave by then, with or without a deal.
Earlier Mr Johnson, who has announced his intention to suspend parliament later this month, said that he wanted to discuss an all-Ireland approach to agriculture and food products with Mr Varadkar. “We recognise that for reasons of geography and economics agri-food is increasingly managed on a common basis across the island of Ireland. We are ready to find ways forward that recognise this reality provided it clearly enjoys the consent of all parties and institutions with an interest,” he said. “We will also be discussing this with the EU shortly and I will be discussing it with the taoiseach, Leo Varadkar, when I see him in Dublin on Monday.” Mr Varadkar had invited Mr Johnson to Dublin during a phone call in July. In a statement, the taoiseach said he hoped they could “share further their respective analyses on Brexit and continue discussion of bilateral matters”, including Northern Ireland, the Good Friday agreement and the common travel area. Fears of a no-deal Brexit have been heightened due to Mr Johnson’s opposition to the backstop, the mechanism for avoiding a hard border in Ireland. He has demanded it be dropped from the withdrawal agreement, but Ireland and the EU have insisted it must remain. Yesterday Mike Pence, the US vice-president, urged Ireland and the EU to negotiate a Brexit deal that respects the UK’s sovereignty. During a meeting with Leo Varadkar in Dublin, Mr Pence said that the US supported the UK’s decision to leave the EU. He encouraged Mr Varadkar to negotiate with Mr Johnson in “good faith” and ensure an agreement was reached that minimised disruption to commerce. Mr Varadkar told Mr Pence that the EU had to stand its ground on the withdrawal agreement. An Irish government source denied that Mr Varadkar had been surprised by Mr Pence’s stance and pointed out that the US administration’s position on Brexit was “well known”. He said that the taoiseach explained that Ireland respected the referendum result but there were “unique issues” that needed to be resolved. Mr Varadkar said that the majority of people in Northern Ireland supported the backstop. He also claimed that Mr Pence was “unequivocal” in his support for the Good Friday agreement and recognised that the US was a guarantor of the peace deal. It is understood that Mr Pence also said he was very friendly with George Mitchell, the US senator who chaired the peace talks in Northern Ireland. Mr Varadkar also raised the prospect of a trade deal between the US and the EU and Mr Pence suggested it could happened before a trade deal was struck with the UK. Meanwhile, Brendan Howlin, the Labour leader, said that it was “unacceptable” that so much Brexit decision making was happening in Westminster without proper representation of the Remain majority in Northern Ireland. “Scotland’s government stands firm with its voters and the Welsh government has joined legal challenges to the prorogation of parliament, but the only people speaking for the people of Northern Ireland are the DUP,” he said. “Sinn Féin are prepared to take the money, but will not bring the fight against no-deal Brexit to the arena in which it is being fought. You cannot complain about something that you won’t fight. “With the numbers likely to be tight in Westminster even after a general election, every seat will matter and should be fought for.” In his letter resigning from the Conservative Party Dr Lee, a GP who has held his seat since 2010, said that he believed the Liberal Democrats were “best placed” to build the “unifying and inspiring political force needed to heal our divisions”. Before Dr Lee’s defection, Mr Johnson had a working majority in the Commons of just one, even with the support of the ten MPs from the DUP.Advertisem*nt
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