WATCH: Irish deputy PM says Boris Johnson is setting UK on ‘collision course’ with Ireland and EU
3 min read
Boris Johnson is setting the UK on a "collision course" with the European Union over his Brexit demands, according to Ireland’s Deputy Prime Minister.
Simon Coveney said Mr Johnson's calls for the Irish backdrop to be abolished were “very unhelpful” to the negotiations process.
The Prime Minister said getting rid of the plan, which is designed to guarantee an open border between Ireland and Northern Ireland in all circumstances, was a necessity if a no-deal Brexit was to be avoided.
In his first Commons appearance since entering Number 10, he said: "No country that values its independence and indeed its self-respect could agree to a Treaty which signed away our economic independence and self-government as this backstop does.
"A time limit is not enough. If an agreement is to be reached it must be clearly understood that the way to the deal goes by way of the abolition of the backstop.”
Brussels has consistently said scrapping the backstop, which would also involve re-opening the Withdrawal Agreement, is out of the question.
Michel Barnier, the EU's chief Brexit negotiator, said Mr Johnson's strategy was "unacceptable".
Mr Coveney said the Prime Minister's approach was “worrying for everybody”.
He said: “I think the statements of the British Prime Minister yesterday in the House of Commons were very unhelpful to this process.
“He seems to have made a deliberate decision to set Britain on a collision course with the European Union and Ireland in relation to the Brexit negotiations, and I think only he can answer the question as to why he’s doing that.
“But I think it’s been made very clear from Taoiseach, from Michel Barnier, from Presidents Tusk and Juncker that the approach that the British Prime Minister seems to now be taking is not going to be the basis of an agreement.
“And that’s worrying for everybody.”
Mr Johnson had a phone conversation with French president Emmanual Macron on Thursday night, during which the pair discussed Brexit.
The Prime Minister's spokesman said: "When the PM has these conversations with fellow leaders and the conversation moves on to Brexit he will be setting out the same message which he delivered in the House of Commons yesterday and in his conversation with President Juncker.
"He wants to do a deal and he will be energetic in trying to seek that deal, but that the withdrawal agreement has been rejected three times by the House of Commons, it’s not going to pass, so that means reopening the withdrawal agreement and securing the abolition of the backstop."
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