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Brexit secretary David Davis has told MPs that the UK government recognises the issues that leaving the EU raises for Northern Ireland but has said that there must be no rejoining the EU through the back door.
During the debate on legislation to trigger Article 50 in the House of Commons on Tuesday, SDLP MP Alasdair McDonnell asked Davis if there were plans to recognise the situation that Brexit brings about for NI.
“We take protecting Northern Ireland very seriously. We have been clear that there must be no attempts to remain inside the EU, no attempts to rejoin it through the back door and no second referendum,” Davis said.
The comments come as Sinn Féin reiterated its call for NI to be given a special designated status within the European Union after Brexit during the launch of a report in Belfast.
Special status
The report calls for NI to have access to the single market and maintain all EU funding streams after Brexit. It states that 25 overseas countries and territories have a special relationship with the EU, but they are all linked to member states.
“The Dublin Government will be at the Brexit negotiating table as an EU member state. They will have a veto on whatever emerges on the far side of those negotiation,” Sinn Féin’s northern leader Michelle O’Neill said in Belfast on Tuesday.
Amendments
Meanwhile, amendments put forward by the Labour Party to the Article 50 Bill seek to place a requirement on the UK Government to consult regularly the Welsh, Scottish and NI Government’s throughout the Brexit negotiations.
However, reports suggest that there is little support among Conservative MPs for any amendments to the bill to be made meaning it could pass through parliament unchanged.
“We will continue to work with the devolved administrations to make sure that the voices of Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland continue to be heard throughout the negotiation process,” Davis told MPs.
SHARING OPTIONS: