UK Prime Minister Theresa May is expected to announce a plan to remove Irish border backstop provision from the withdrawal agreement in order to win support for the deal from her own party and parliamentary allies, local media reported on Monday
MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 21st January, 2019) UK Prime Minister Theresa May is expected to announce a plan to remove Irish border backstop provision from the withdrawal agreement in order to win support for the deal from her own party and parliamentary allies, local media reported on Monday.The UK prime minister will address the parliament later in the day to report on an alternative for the withdrawal deal, after the previous agreement, agreed by the UK government and the European Union, suffered crushing defeat in the UK House of Commons.
May will no longer look for a cross-party consensus, as Labour has shown little support, and will instead try and get rid of the Irish backstop to convince some of Conservative lawmakers and the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) to back the agreement, Sky news broadcaster reported, citing the Cabinet sources.
According to media reports, a bilateral treaty with Ireland may have been considered as a way to get rid of the backstop provision, but Irish Foreign Minister Simon Coveney and Prime Minister Leo Varadkar rejected the idea over the weekend.
Irish Minister of State for European Affairs Helen McEntee told RTE broadcaster on Monday that Ireland would not engage in bilateral talks with the United Kingdom.
"What we can't do and what we won't do, because we have not throughout this entire process, is engage in any kind of bilateral negotiations with the DUP or any other political party in Northern Ireland or the UK ... This is a negotiation between the EU and the UK," McEntee said, as quoted by the broadcaster.
UK lawmakers will debate and vote on May's Monday proposal on January 29. The current impasse over the withdrawal agreement finds the United Kingdom perilously close to March 29, when it is expected to leave the European Union.
