Brexit: Government finds UK unity more important than potential trade war with EU, says minister
The Northern Ireland Minister said this morning that the unity of the country outweighs the potential impact of a trade war with the EU.
Conor Burns said he expects to reach a compromise with the EU, though legislation would be brought before Parliament regardless.
On the threat of a trade war with the EU, he said: “The most important thing for us is fixing this and fixing it so that we can get a revived devolved government in Northern Ireland.”
“This is more important to get this right for our United Kingdom and for the communities in Northern Ireland than almost any other foreign policy or economic objective,” Burns told GB News.
“And that is our determination. We hope that the EU will re-engage with us in a spirit of compromise and create the necessary space to allow us to find a way through that but we will legislate in the interests of our own country, if that’s what it comes to.”
Asked if that was a threat: “No, it’s just a reality,” said Burns.
“We cannot stand by as the government of the United Kingdom, whilst this is going on in Northern Ireland and there isn’t a local government in Northern Ireland delivering for our citizens in the six counties.”
Conor Burns
Asked about the likelihood of reaching an agreement with the EU, he said: “Well, none of us know the answer to that.”
“But the whole history of our engagement with the EU, the negotiation since we had the vote to leave the European Union back in 2016, on lots of things that we were initially told were impossible, actually coming to pass.”
“And I just hope that the declaration by the government of our intention to legislate if we can’t reach an agreed compromise with the EU will trigger everybody having a serious look at this again, and reaching solutions that work.
“Work for us, work for the Irish Republic. But crucially work for communities in Northern Ireland.”
Conor Burns
Burns went on to deny that reform of the protocol meant that Brexit had failed.
“Brexit has not failed. We’ve got a technical problem, which is informed now by 18 months of data in Northern Ireland.
Burns added: “We’ve got to fix this. If it fails, it shows that we are not able to engage pragmatically with our closest neighbour and ally, the European Union.
“And I would hope that what we see being seen in Ukraine and the aftermath of the tragic events there is that Britain is a reliable ally.
“Britain is a friend, Britain is wedded to shared values, and we surely must be able to find the landing ground to sort this out in all our interests,” Burns concluded.