Tony Blair blasts Brexit MPs for 'sickening' proposal to scrap Good Friday Agreement
3 min read
Tony Blair has blasted the “sickening” suggestion by outspoken eurosceptics that the Good Friday Agreement should be scrapped.
The former prime minister, who brokered the historic peace deal in 1998, accused them of trying to “sacrifice” it on the “altar of Brexit” and argue peace in the country is not “worth having anyway”.
Prominent Tories Owen Paterson and Daniel Hannan were joined by Labour former minister Kate Hoey last week in arguing the Good Friday Agreement may have run its course.
The comments sparked outrage among Remain supporters and led to Ms Hoey’s local Vauxhall Labour party passing a motion of condemnation in their MP.
In an article for his thinktank the Tony Blair Institute for Global Change, the former premier argued the stance of the Brexit supporters showed there was “no way around” the thorny issue of keeping the Northern Ireland border open once the UK quits the EU.
“There are politicians prepared to sacrifice the Good Friday Agreement on the altar of Brexit and declare that the peace agreed in Northern Ireland is not, really, worth having anyway,” he wrote.
“This is irresponsibility that is frankly sickening.”
GFA 'HAS OUTLIVED ITS USE'
The Brexit supporters had argued the peace deal was no longer fit for purpose amid a stalemate in Stormont that has held up the power-sharing government for more than a year.
Under the terms of the Good Friday Agreement, Republican and Unionist parties must work together to run the devolved administration.
Former Northern Ireland secretary Mr Paterson argued the landmark deal had “outlived its use” while MEP Mr Hannan said it "represented a bribe to two sets of hardliners" and was undemocratic.
Ms Hoey - who was born in Northern Ireland - meanwhile said the agreement was “not sustainable" and there was a need to take a "cold, rational look" at it.
But her Vauxhall Labour party last night passed a motion condemning her comments, and in a statement added that the Labour leadership should “take whatever steps necessary” to protect the deal during Brexit negotiations.
Senior DUP MPs also weighed in this week to suggest the Good Friday Agreement should be scrapped.
BREXIT 'CONSEQUENCES'
Elsewhere in his article Mr Blair argued Government ministers were wrong to argue Brexit would not lead to a low tax and low regulation UK.
He said: “David Davis may protest it’s not about that. But the economists advocating Brexit say it’s precisely about that. There is no other serious economic rationale for Brexit.”
His institute has released a paper showing that the UK has not been held back by the EU from making its own laws about major constitutional issues.
It also argues Britain will be hit harder in the pocket the further it diverges from the Single Market and Customs Union and that the UK needs most categories of EU migrants.
And it says Labour will struggle to implement its programme of government - including pumping money into the NHS and raising corporate taxes - outside the EU.
CORBYN SHOULD BE 'ANTI-BREXIT'
“If anyone should be anti-Brexit, it is someone who wants to pursue policies of higher taxes including a new tax on financial transactions and rises in corporation tax, big increases in spending and a programme of nationalisation,” Mr Blair said.
“Even without Brexit, this plan would be challenging. It is good that the Labour party position is ‘evolving’. But it must align it fully with its policy programme.”
He has previously argued that Brits should have the final say on the eventual Brexit deal and be offered the chance to stay in the EU either through a vote in parliament or a fresh referendum.
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