Politics

Arlene Foster sends Brexit warning to Hunt and Boris to leave EU by October deadline


Mrs Foster said the Government must keep a no deal Brexit on the table and said repeated extensions of the Article 50 timeframe had fuelled public discontent. Her comments come after Boris Johnson and Jeremy Hunt both outlined their vision of Brexit. Mr Johnson has promised the UK will leave by October 31, while Mr Hunt has left the possibility of an extension open.

Speaking at a Policy Exchange think tank on the Irish Border issue in London, Mrs Foster said: “It’s very important that we leave on October 31.

“Of course, we should have left by now and I think a lot of the discontent within the United Kingdom is caused by the fact that we haven’t left, and we’ve seen that in the European election results.”

But the DUP leader, whose party is propping up the minority Tory Government, did not back either Mr Johnson or Mr Hunt as next Tory leader at the event on Wednesday in central London – but said she has a “good relationship” with both.

“That is not a matter for me, thankfully,” said Mrs Foster, referring to the leadership contest – but said she “looked forward” to working with either candidate.

The event panel, which focused on the Irish backstop, also included Labour peer Lord Andrew Adonis and Sir Graham Brady, the former chair of the Conservative 1922 Committee.

Mrs Foster said outgoing Prime Minister Theresa May broke “many promises” around the backstop, which has become a focal point of Britain’s exit from the European Union.

The DUP leader said unionists “cannot allow a backstop which will damage the union economically”.

She said: “I think there is an opportunity for our new prime minister to deal proactively with the issue and I am heartened by what I have heard from both Boris and Jeremy in relation to these issues.”

She said the country must “deliver on Brexit” and “get a deal that works for the whole of the United Kingdom”.

She went on: “I believe that post-Brexit, the Union, the United Kingdom, has more relevance and is more important today than in any time in its history.”

Former 1922 committee chairman Sir Brady previously argued the next Prime Minister must drop the backstop in Brexit negotiations as it threatens the Good Friday Agreement.

But the DUP leader added it is a “great falsehood” that “the backstop is required by the Belfast Agreement”.

She said: “Of course it’s probably – to my mind – the greatest lie told in politics today. And that’s really saying something isn’t it?”

Sir Graham told the event it would be “bizarre” for any Tory MPs to bring down the Government if a no-deal was tabled.

Sir Brady said he has “no idea” whether 10 to 15 MPs in the party are planning the move.



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