Arlene Foster claims EU’s approach to Northern Ireland and Brexit is “beyond crazy”

Rory Cashin

The DUP leader stated that “Dublin’s real intentions” have been revealed.

Boris Johnson spoke to the German chancellor Angela Merkel on Tuesday morning about the UK’s Brexit proposals, with a source telling the BBC that a deal based on those proposals was “overwhelmingly unlikely”.

Additionally, the source said that Merkel stated a deal would never be possible unless Northern Ireland stayed in a customs union.

Following the meeting, the President of the European Council, Donald Tusk, took to Twitter to tell Boris Johnson: “What’s at stake is not winning some stupid blame game. At stake is the future of Europe and the UK as well as the security and interests of our people.”

In response, DUP leader Arlene Foster took to the official DUP website with the following statement, titled PM’s proposals have flushed out EU’s real intentions:

“The comments from the German Chancellor to the Prime Minister that Northern Ireland must remain in the EU Customs Union forever now reveal the real objective of Dublin and the European Union.

“For the United Kingdom to be asked to leave a part of its sovereign territory in a foreign organisation of which the UK would no longer be a part and over which we would have no say whatsoever is beyond crazy. No UK Government could ever concede such a surrender.

“The EU is not interested in a negotiated outcome at this time. Their position is the UK can only leave with a deal if it agrees a binding piece of international law permanently tying either the whole country or a part of it to the EU’s legal order over which it has no control.

“The true purpose of the “backstop” is now in the open for all to see. Those who eagerly supported the backstop as the best of both worlds can now see the error of that assessment. It was neither temporary nor an insurance policy.

“It appears that Martin Selmayr’s remarks about Northern Ireland being the price of Brexit is still the EU negotiating stance.

“The Prime Minister’s proposals have flushed out Dublin’s real intentions to trap Northern Ireland in the EU Customs Union forever, where Dublin rather than the United Kingdom’s elected representatives would be in the driving seat.

“We will not accept any such ultimatum or outcome.”