‘Tory ‘famine’ threats expose their attitude to Ireland’ says Hazzard.
Sinn Féin MP Chris Hazzard has slammed a Tory proposal to use the threat of food shortages in Ireland in order to pressure the Dublin Government in the Brexit negotiations.
The South Down MP was commenting after it emerged that former Tory Cabinet Minister Priti Patel urged the British Government to use the threat of food shortages in a ‘no deal’ Brexit as leverage to force Dublin to drop its commitment to a backstop.
Chris Hazzard said: “This proposal from Priti Patel really exposes the Brexiteer attitude to Ireland as nothing more than a colonial irritant whose rights really shouldn’t be taken into account.
“They know the history of the Irish famine and Britain’s role in it and the very fact that they would seek to inject that into the Brexit debate is crass and offensive.
“The Tories couldn’t care less about the impact of their reckless Brexit agenda on the people and economy of Ireland. We are simply collateral damage.
“And this is precisely why we need a backstop; it is our only insurance policy against a hard border in Ireland and comments such as Priti Patel’s will only serve to reinforce the determination of those of us who are saying that the backstop is the bottom line. It cannot and will not be abandoned or renegotiated.”
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-46488479
