Keir Starmer said Northern Ireland As the impasse with Brussels over the implementation of Boris Johnson’s Brexit agreement continues, it is “fragile”.
This labor During a three-day visit to Northern Ireland, Leader met with community groups and politicians from all major political parties, where he had previously worked for six years.
“I am shocked by the fragility of the situation here, and this is the word everyone is using-things are fragile,” he told the Guardian.
He said that the lack of trust has repeatedly appeared in his conversations, especially on issues related to the Northern Ireland Agreement.
The agreement was negotiated by Johnson to avoid a hard border on the island of Ireland and involved the British acceptance of some inspections of goods between mainland Great Britain and Northern Ireland.
However, the implementation of the agreement is full of difficulties, and the EU has accused Britain of failing to fulfill its obligations.
“There is a very strong feeling here that the prime minister knows what he is negotiating with the protocol. Then he sold it by mistake without directly explaining what its impact was. He is now shirking responsibility for making it work,” Stammer Say.
“There is a strong feeling that he treats the people here as fools, and they are not fools in Northern Ireland. He may think he is fooling his backbenchers to please some people in the party, but in Northern Ireland, there is no one. Attracted by this incident, and really lacks trust.”
The European Union recently agreed to extend the grace period by three months, before compulsory inspections of products such as British sausages to be sold in Northern Ireland. However, the two sides are still at a deadlock on the issue of practicality, and the UK has accused Brussels of adopting “too pure interpretations” of the agreement.
Johnson’s European Minister David Frost (David Frost) said he will announce in the next few days how Britain proposes to resolve the deadlock. Stammer said that Johnson should be responsible for solving the problem himself.
“The prime minister should take personal responsibility. This is what the former prime minister did in the role of an honest broker: understand and respect people in both communities, and have the ability, because they are trusted to bring people together to solve difficult problems. This is it. What this prime minister lacks.”
He said Lord Frost seemed to be “more keen to provoke a fight than to find a solution. In Northern Ireland, this is not the way forward.” Stammer suggested that a veterinary agreement between the two parties would be a good starting point for solving the problem.
In addition to the agreement, Starmer said he heard concerns about the government’s proposal to impose a full statute of limitations on trouble-related prosecutions.
Conservative backbenchers including former Secretary of Defense Johnny Mercer have been urging to pardon veterans who served in Northern Ireland, but Starmer said the statute of limitations is not the right approach.
“The amnesty package is totally wrong in principle: but more importantly, I think there is a difference between the way Boris Johnson handles this issue and the way I handle it: any discussion of inheritance should start from the most direct The affected people started. Therefore, I mean the victims who lost their loved ones or injured themselves,” Stammer said.
“We talked to them yesterday and they described the pain they still feel and the facts that affect their children and siblings.”
In Delhi on Friday, Starmer met Sarah Canning, the partner of the murdered journalist Leila McGee, They are now committed to bringing together different communities in Northern Ireland. “It was great to walk across the Peace Bridge with her this morning,” he said.
