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Shadow minister sorry for calling Good Friday agreement a shibboleth Shadow minister sorry for calling Good Friday agreement a shibboleth
(about 1 hour later)
Barry Gardiner, the shadow international trade secretary, has apologised for suggesting that the Good Friday agreement is “outdated or unimportant”.Barry Gardiner, the shadow international trade secretary, has apologised for suggesting that the Good Friday agreement is “outdated or unimportant”.
As dignitaries gathered in Northern Ireland on Tuesday to mark the peace deal’s 20th anniversary, Gardiner said: “I am deeply sorry that my informal remarks in a meeting last month have led to misunderstanding.” As dignitaries gathered in Northern Ireland on Tuesday to mark the peace deal’s 20th anniversary, Gardiner said sorry for remarks that provoked angry protests from Labour colleagues and politicians in the Irish Republic.
“I am deeply sorry that my informal remarks in a meeting last month have led to misunderstanding,” Gardiner said.
He apologised in particular for the use of the word “shibboleth”, which he acknowledged “gave the impression that I thought the Good Friday aagreement was in any way outdated or unimportant. I absolutely do not.”He apologised in particular for the use of the word “shibboleth”, which he acknowledged “gave the impression that I thought the Good Friday aagreement was in any way outdated or unimportant. I absolutely do not.”
Gardiner’s shibboleth comment came during a Q&A session after a speech he gave at a German conference organised by European parties and trade unions. In his speech he kept strictly to the Labour party line, but afterwards suggested the agreement was being exploited by people anxious to prevent a hard border. The Labour leader, Jeremy Corbyn, was also forced to repeat his commitment to ensuring there is no hard border. “There must be no return to a hard border between north and south, and no return to the horrors of the Troubles. All of us on both sides of the Irish Sea have a responsibility to maintain hope for the future.”
Marking the anniversary, Corbyn paid tribute to the architects of the agreement, which he called “a defining moment in Irish history which allowed peace to prevail”.
“It was a great achievement and I pay tribute to the work done by Tony Blair, Mo Mowlam and Paul Murphy, as well as those on all sides in Ireland, north and south, in achieving the crucial breakthrough of the peace process.”
Labour insiders were furious at the breach of the hard-won agreement that Labour policy should be to remain in a customs union with the EU, which was agreed and set out in Corbyn’s Coventry speech in February to protect the Good Friday agreement.
“Barry’s remarks certainly weren’t agreed policy, and they were very unhelpful. Barry’s on the Brexit subcommittee and he was in the room when Jeremy’s Coventry speech was drafted, and that’s the policy now, ” one source said.
Gardiner’s “shibboleth” comment came at the end of last month during a Q&A session after a speech he gave at a German conference organised by European parties and trade unions. In his speech he kept strictly to the Labour party line, but afterwards suggested the agreement was being exploited by people anxious to prevent a hard border.
On Monday the Guardian, which had obtained a recording of his remarks, repeatedly tried to reach Gardiner for a comment.On Monday the Guardian, which had obtained a recording of his remarks, repeatedly tried to reach Gardiner for a comment.
On Tuesday morning, Gardiner restated his support for party policy. “The Good Friday agreement is a vital and essential part of the relationship between the UK and the Republic of Ireland, and has been central to the two decades of peace it has brought about,” he said.On Tuesday morning, Gardiner restated his support for party policy. “The Good Friday agreement is a vital and essential part of the relationship between the UK and the Republic of Ireland, and has been central to the two decades of peace it has brought about,” he said.
“Labour is completely committed to the agreement and opposed to any return of a hard border between north and south. We are committed to negotiating a new customs union between the UK and Ireland as part of a final Brexit settlement, which would play a key role in ensuring there is no hard border.”“Labour is completely committed to the agreement and opposed to any return of a hard border between north and south. We are committed to negotiating a new customs union between the UK and Ireland as part of a final Brexit settlement, which would play a key role in ensuring there is no hard border.”
Shortly before the apology was released, Keir Starmer, the shadow Brexit minister, tweeted: “Labour fully supports the Good Friday agreement in all its aspects, including no hard border. Crucial this is fully respected in the Brexit negotiations and beyond.” Shortly before the apology was released, Keir Starmer, the shadow Brexit secretary, tweeted: “Labour fully supports the Good Friday agreement in all its aspects, including no hard border. Crucial this is fully respected in the Brexit negotiations and beyond.”
Starmer intends to try to amend the Brexit legislation to ensure that no hard border can be created.Starmer intends to try to amend the Brexit legislation to ensure that no hard border can be created.
Days after Gardiner’s remarks in March, the shadow Northern Ireland secretary, Owen Smith, was sacked from Labour’s frontbench for writing an article in the Guardian that supported a second referendum on the terms of the Brexit deal.Days after Gardiner’s remarks in March, the shadow Northern Ireland secretary, Owen Smith, was sacked from Labour’s frontbench for writing an article in the Guardian that supported a second referendum on the terms of the Brexit deal.
Smith described Gardiner’s remarks as “reckless and plain wrong”.
“On the Good Friday Agreement’s 20th anniversary, Labour should be defending and sustaining it, not joining the Tory Brexiteers in downplaying its importance and the risks of a hard border,” Smith wrote in a tweet.
The former Labour prime minister Tony Blair, who is credited with getting the peace deal over the line through an exhaustive series of face-to-face and late-night meetings in Northern Ireland with Sinn Féin and Unionists, said he could not believe what Gardiner had said.
“I don’t know how anyone can say that. It is the only basis upon which you are going to have peace.
“That’s [the deal on peace] not a shibboleth that’s had its time, that’s absolutely fundamental to keeping the peace,” Blair told the BBC Radio 4 Today programme.
A Fine Gael Brexit spokesman, senator Neale Richmond, said he expected remarks such as Gardiner’s to come from “militant extremists”, not members of the Labour party.
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