Write a commentMEP Jim Nicholson has said that a sensible deal is needed to get the UK out of the political no-man’s land in which it now finds itself.
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Mr Nicholson said “The fundamental problem remains and that is the backstop. It is the elephant in the room which has plagued Brexit negotiations since 2017. All they have done is kick the backstop can down the road and we’ll end up coming back to it again. This has been stubbornly ignored by the EU27, and unfortunately our own government have been complicit in that. The Ulster Unionist Party has repeatedly warned that the backstop was an affront to the principle of consent and the Belfast Agreement.
“It is particularly galling that our own government has singularly failed to attempt to put the backstop back on the negotiating table with the EU. They have failed to push for alternatives.
“We now seem locked into a perpetual process from which there is no escape. Our country needs certainty, business needs certainty and politics needs certainty so we can move on and shape our future relationships with both our European neighbours and those outside the EU. The lack of clarity from the discussions with the EU does nothing to address that.
“We remain in a political no-man’s land. If some are attempting to stretch this out to play for time to attempt to overturn the referendum result, I fear the impact that it will have on public confidence in our political system. We will be into uncharted waters which could become very choppy. I'd much prefer it if a sensible deal could be reached which doesn’t undermine the integrity of the United Kingdom and we leave the EU by the end of June.”
