No Brexit Without ‘Irish Backstop,’ Says Appeaser Theresa

Brexit
Jack Taylor/Getty
Liam Deacon

The Prime Minister has repeatedly slapped down calls to improve her Brexit deal and remove the “Irish backstop,” claiming without the unpopular measure “there is no deal”.

The backstop means that, if a trade deal is not agreed in the “transition period,” the entire UK will be forced to stay in a customs union with the bloc, with no ability to leave without Brussels agreeing.

Northern Ireland, a full and equal part of the United Kingdom located in the north of Ireland will be tied to more of the bloc’s regulation than the rest of the UK, creating a regulatory border in the Irish sea and dividing the nation.

“There is no better deal available,” Theresa May told MPs in the Commons Monday afternoon, insisting: “There is no deal that comes without a backstop, and without a backstop, there is no deal.”

MPs were urged to “back this deal and deliver on the vote of the referendum and move onto a future of opportunity.”

The Irish backstop, the Prime Minister claimed, is an “insurance policy that no one wants to use”.

She added: “I do not pretend that the EU or I are entirely happy with these arrangements”.

Northern Irish MP Sammy Wilson, the Democratic Unionist Party’s Brexit spokesman, asked about French President Emmanuel Macron’s claim that the backstop will be used to trap the UK in a customs union if the UK’s fishing waters are not opened up to European boats after Brexit.

He asked if Mrs May was aware that in signing the agreement including the backstop she was handing the EU a “cudgel” to use against the UK.

The Prime Minister said she does not accept this. If the UK is in the backstop, it will be outside the Common Fisheries Policy, and able to decide what boats can enter British waters, she insisted.

During the parliamentary session, Brexiteer MPs called on Mrs May to peruse a free trade with the bloc, similar to Canada, insisting there is still time to renegotiate.

Owen Paterson, the pro-Brexit former cabinet minister, said many MPs believe the deal does not deliver on the Tory manifesto promise, demanding the UK leaves a customs union with the bloc.

The Prime Minister hit back, claiming a free trade deal is her aim after the transition period. “It is just a better free trade deal than Canada,” she insisted.

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