“Surely, this is the real threat to our union.”
Theresa May has urged MPs to take “a second look” at the Brexit deal that she negotiated with the EU, suggesting a referendum on a united Ireland would become more likely if they rejected it.
Mrs May said that history would judge those MPs harshly if they failed to deliver on the result of the 2016 referendum.
Speaking in the House of Commons, she said that a no-deal Brexit would “strengthen the hand” of those who wanted a “border poll” in Northern Ireland.
“Whatever version of the future relationship you might want to see – from Norway to Canada to any number of variations – all of them require a withdrawal agreement and any withdrawal agreement will contain the backstop. And that is not going to change however the House votes tomorrow,” she told the House of Commons.
May added: “And to those who think we should reject this deal in favour of no deal, because we cannot get every assurance we want, I ask what would a no-deal Brexit do to strengthen the hand of those campaigning for Scottish independence – or indeed those demanding a border poll in Northern Ireland? Surely this is the real threat to our union.”
May’s deal is widely expected to be voted down by MPs on Tuesday evening.
The prime minister’s latest appeal to get MPs to endorse her deal follows the publication of a new letter from the EU to the British government. The letter clarifies the EU’s position on the Irish backstop, saying it would only ever be temporary and that there can be no renegotiation.
The DUP’s Westminster leader Nigel Dodds said that the letter from EU Council President Donald Tusk and EU Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker “changes nothing.”
“It has been five weeks since the prime minister pulled the vote, saying that there had to be a legally binding assurance. Will she (May) admit that nothing has fundamentally changed? That’s the reality, let’s not kid ourselves. Will she not recognise that in pulling the vote, there needed to be legally binding changes made to the withdrawal agreement in order for it to have any chance of getting through this House,” said Dodds.
Dodds adds that: “The backstop defines the future relationship for Northern Ireland because if the whole of the UK is not aligned to a high degree for single market purposes and we’re in a customs union, Northern Ireland will be.”
You can see Dodds’ speech below.
5 weeks since the Prime Minister pulled the vote and nothing has changed.
The Backstop cannot be supported. pic.twitter.com/FHBDjppvWm
— Nigel Dodds (@NigelDoddsDUP) January 14, 2019
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