“The Irish government and the European Union have connived together.”
On Friday evening, Labour MP Kate Hoey was a keynote speaker at a Leave Means Leave rally in London. Born in Antrim but serving as an MP in Britain since 1989, Hoey’s hardline stance on Brexit has been quite well known.
In February, she described the Good Friday Agreement as “unsustainable,” a remark that Simon Coveney condemned as “not only irresponsible but reckless.”
During her most recent speech, she said: “As someone who grew up in Northern Ireland and is very proud to be pro-Union, I feel very strongly about this. We didn’t spend 30 years in Northern Ireland stopping IRA terrorists killing soldiers, police, and civilians, in order to get a United Ireland to allow a few jumped-up EU bureaucrats and a complicit prime minister to try and do the same thing by the back door.”
Alastair Campbell has since said that Hoey’s remark was “disgusting” and that it revealed her “wilful ignorance of the Good Friday Agreement, how it was delivered, how it is designed to work, and what it has achieved.”
As of yet, there has been now official statement from Labour about Hoey’s remarks.
Disgusting comment. Revealing wilful ignorance of the Good Friday Agreement, how it was delivered, how it is designed to work, and what it has achieved https://t.co/cGDsEASlDa
— ALASTAIR CAMPBELL (@campbellclaret) December 15, 2018
Despite the fact she made these controversial remarks on Friday night, Hoey was asked to be a guest on Sky News this morning where she was speaking with Sophy Ridge.
Naturally, the topic of conversation inevitably turned to the border and the backstop.
“Once, supposedly this deal goes through, as Northern Ireland is left in the Customs Union, there is no one in Northern Ireland elected to speak for the people of Northern Ireland. So the country that would be speaking for Northern Ireland would be the Republic of Ireland. Ultimately, as divergence happens and Great Britain decides to go for different rules and changes things, Northern Ireland would be left behind. This is not acceptable because this is another way of actually driving Northern Ireland out of the United Kingdom,” said Hoey.
She adds: “I do genuinely find it very dangerous – the whole idea that somehow, a hard border is needed – when time after time, customs experts from both sides said it’s not with good will. The good will hasn’t been there because the Irish government and the European Union have connived together to see this as a way of keeping the UK in as close a possible relationship with the EU.”
As you may know, Northern Ireland voted to remain in the EU with 55.8% of the voters against Brexit. Granted, as a member of the United Kingdom, they adhered to the collective vote but it’s still worth mentioning.
Secondly, despite the fact that Stormont isn’t currently sitting, there are parties that can speak for the people of Northern Ireland – the DUP and Sinn Féin being the major ones.
During a previous interview on Ireland Unfiltered, Leo Varadkar was also extremely clear that he has the utmost respect for the Good Friday Agreement and that he’ll strictly adhere to its principles and rules that define the executive powers of Stormont and how they can’t be infringed upon.
“I know what the Good Friday Agreement says. I’m one of the co-guarantors of the Good Friday Agreement, I stand by that agreement,” he said.
With regards to her comments that the Irish government and European Union “have connived together,” well, Ireland is a member of the EU.
It’s only natural that Ireland will work for what’s best for the fellow member states. The UK isn’t negotiating with Ireland, they are negotiating with the EU.
As Patrick Kielty said in response to Hoey’s comments about the IRA, Brexit, and the border : “We’ve spent 20 years building peace in Northern Ireland. Then seen a United Ireland become more possible thanks to a few jumped up Brexiteers who say they’re actually Unionists. You couldn’t make it up (so they do instead).
Here’s Hoey’s interview on Sky.
"The Irish government and the EU have connived together" – @KateHoeyMP claims Brussels and Dublin have worked together to keep Britain in the EU over the Irish backstop #Ridge pic.twitter.com/rxpNVXEK8p
— Politics Hub with Sophy Ridge (@SkyPoliticsHub) December 16, 2018
She’s right. We didn’t. We’ve spent 20 years building peace in Northern Ireland. Then seen a United Ireland become more possible thanks to a few jumped up Brexiteers who say they’re actually Unionists. You couldn’t make it up (so they do instead) https://t.co/YfpIgMohUF
— Patrick Kielty (@PatricKielty) December 14, 2018
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