Write a commentSouth Down MP Chris Hazzard has said that local businesses are already feeling the heat when it comes to the consequences of Brexit. It follows a meeting with Shailesh Vara MP, Parliamentary Under Secretary of State in Westminster last week.
Mr Hazzard spoke of how the UK Government must urgently prioritise solutions to their BREXIT Border conundrum as South Down businesses grow increasingly frustrated at the lack of practical solutions being considered.
“Whilst I welcomed the opportunity to meet with Mr Vara in his first weeks in the new role alongside the incoming Secretary of State Karen Bradley MP; I was keen to stress that local businesses are already feeling the heat when it comes to the consequences of Brexit so there will be no time for a honeymoon period to settle in.
“The economic realities of Brexit are hurting many local industries each and everyday - I made the point to Mr Vara that we don’t have time for any more fanciful ideas when it comes to practical solutions in avoiding a hard border in Ireland. The ‘wait and see’ approach is harming most sectors already and ‘certainty’ is the word on everybody’s lips.
Mr Hazzard concluded “The people of South Down voted overwhelmingly to remain in the European Union. It is incumbent upon the British Government to find workable solutions that avoid any hardening of the border; and afford our people with certainty on the way forward. The only way to adequately address these concerns is to work for special status for the north of Ireland within the EU."
