She was the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland for four years.
Over the weekend, Theresa Villiers was a guest on Sky News where she discussed the issue of Brexit with Sophy Ridge.
In case you’re unaware, Villiers served as the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland for four years and she was also one of the six Cabinet ministers who came out in support of Brexit during the EU referendum
Due to the fact that she was speaking on Sophy Ridge’s show, an activist for the group Our Future, Our Choice named Femi decided to protest against Villiers’ appearance by sharing a previous clip where she discussed the border and Brexit.
Here are the two clips – old footage is at the top, this weekend’s appearance below.
Today on #Ridge, Theresa Villiers argued in favour of leaving with No Deal and trading on WTO terms, even though the WTO has already confirmed (on #Marr) that that would break the Good Friday Agreement. pic.twitter.com/WHvzHpGwFN
— Femi (@Femi_Sorry) December 2, 2018
As you can see, during a previous appearance on Sky News (old footage) said that: “there is no reason why we have to change our border arrangements in the event of a Brexit, because they’ve been broadly consistent in the 100 years since the creation of Ireland as a separate state.”
As mentioned previously, Patrick Kielty has proven himself to be extremely intelligent and articulate when it comes to expressing the very delicate nature of the border, the potential for sectarian tensions to remerge in border towns, and the threat that Brexit poses to the peace that was secured by the Good Friday Agreement.
Kielty’s documentary about The Troubles is also excellent.
In response to this statement by Villiers, Kielty took to Twitter and said: “The border was consistently a war zone for 25 years. Then consistently invisible & peaceful for 20 years thanks to the Good Friday Agreement. The only thing “broadly consistent” here is the total ignorance of, wait for it, a former N Ireland Sec of State. Sweet baby Jesus.”
Unfortunately, in recent weeks, this isn’t the first gaffe that a British MP that’s heavily involved with Northern Ireland has made.
In a recent interview with the BBC, Shailesh Vara, the former Northern Ireland Minister who resigned from the position in protest at May’s draft Brexit deal, said that “It’s important to remember that Northern Ireland is part of Great Britain by virtue of the principle of consent.”
Again, Northern Ireland is not a part of Great Britain.
On the plus side, between Patrick Kielty, Andrew Maxwell, and Dara Ó Briain, it’s clear that Irish comedians won’t be running out of material soon.
The border was consistently a war zone for 25 years. Then consistently invisible & peaceful for 20 years thanks to the Good Friday Agreement.
The only thing “broadly consistent” here is the total ignorance of, wait for it, a former N Ireland Sec of State. Sweet baby Jesus. https://t.co/tg4G1C1jYS— Patrick Kielty (@PatricKielty) December 3, 2018
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