UK must ‘knuckle down’ to get EU trade deal, says Irish PM
The UK must “knuckle down” to secure a post-Brexit trade deal with the EU, the Irish prime minister has said.
Taoiseach Michael Martin said failing to reach an agreement would be “very, very damaging all round”.
The UK is running out of time to secure a trade deal with the bloc before the transition period ends on 31 December, leading to rising fears of a no-deal scenario.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson has insisted a deal is possible and that the “outlines” of an agreement are in place.
But Martin today ramped up the pressure on his British counterpart, saying that failure to secure a deal would be “ruinous” for the UK and also damaging for Ireland.
“We’ve all had a very significant shock to our economic system because of Covid-19 – the last thing we need now across all of our respective economies is a second major shock,” he told the BBC.
He dismissed suggestions that the EU had not compromised in negotiations and said a deal could still be reached.
‘Niggling doubts’
Martin added that president-elect Joe Biden would pursue a “greater thrust towards multilateralism” and that the UK should follow his example by working with the EU.
The Irish leader also warned the UK not to do anything that could destabilise Northern Ireland when the transition period comes to an end.
He raised concerns over the government’s controversial Internal Markets Bill, which is designed to avoid a hard border on the island of Ireland but gives the UK powers to change the EU Withdrawal Agreement.
Martin said the bill had created “niggling doubts” over whether the UK could be trusted.
“Efforts have to be made to reassure the EU side that what has happened in terms of the Internal Market Bill is not going to happen in 12 months’ time in the event of a deal being agreed between the European Union and the United Kingdom,” he said.