Theresa May to address border fears on Northern Ireland trip
Written by News on 04/02/2019
Theresa May will visit Northern Ireland tomorrow in a bid to calm fears about a hard border reforming after Brexit.
The prime minister will give her “absolute commitment” to avoiding one, despite failing to get a deal with the EU to prevent such a scenario through parliament.
She will also meet local businesses on the trip that foreshadows her return to Brussels.
Mrs May is expected back in the Belgian capital to push EU leaders to reopen the divorce deal she struck in November.
Downing Street has set up a taskforce to examine one plan dubbed the Malthouse Compromise to change the backstop.
The backstop is the insurance policy which kicks in if the UK and EU fail to strike a trade deal to avoid a physical border being created between Northern Ireland and the Republic.
Brexit Secretary Stephen Barclay is holding talks with senior Leave and Remain Conservative MPs to thrash out the Malthouse Compromise.
It has been given the critical support for development by civil servants, with those from HMRC, the Cabinet Office Europe Unit and Number 10 drafted in.
Mrs May said she was engaging with it “sincerely and positively”, with more meetings planned to scrutinise it on Tuesday and Wednesday.
But senior Labour MP Hilary Benn dismissed the idea as he led a trip of the Commons Brexit select committee to Brussels.
“Personally, I don’t see how it can work, particularly in the very short amount of time that there is left,” he said.
The EU has also ruled out changing the deal that took over 18 months to broker.
“The backstop is part of the withdrawal agreement, and the withdrawal agreement is not open for re-negotiation” said a spokesperson for Donald Tusk, the EU Council president.
(c) Sky News 2019: Theresa May to address border fears on Northern Ireland trip
