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Tory leadership: May warns her successor not to undermine Good Friday agreement - live news Tory leadership: May warns her successor not to undermine Good Friday agreement - live news
(32 minutes later)
This is what Theresa May said in her speech about the need for her successor not to undermine the Good Friday agreement. (See 5.25pm.) She said:
At the heart of the Belfast agreement, which enabled the people of Northern Ireland to move beyond that past into a shared future, was a compromise.
That people who identify as Irish can live in Northern Ireland but, to all intents and purposes, operate across the whole of Ireland in their day to day lives and in their business activities without any semblance of a border.
That compromise was enabled by having a seamless border.
The backstop insurance policy we agreed with the EU, which would have been activated only if we were unable to agree our new relationship within the implementation period, respected that compromise.
And the future relationship will need to respect it.
It will be for my successor to resolve that issue and I will not today seek to provide any advice on the matter.
I will simply say this.
There can and must be no false choice between honouring the solemn commitments of the Belfast agreement and delivering on the decision of the British people in the EU referendum.
We must do both.
May’s decision to speak out on this point may have been prompted by hints that Boris Johnson, her likely successor, will propose an alternative to the backstop that will involve some extra checks for traders in Ireland and Northern Ireland, only not at the border. This was the implication of the recent report from the Alternative Arrangements Commission (pdf). The Telegraph’s Peter Foster explored this idea in a recent article, and here is an extract.
Mr Johnson chose his own words in Belfast very carefully. He stated that the withdrawal agreement was dead “as it stands” and promised that there “will be no physical checks or infrastructure at the border in Northern Ireland”.
A great deal rides on that small word ‘at’ - note that Mr Johnson does not promise the absence of “checks or infrastructure”, only that they would not be ‘at’ the border.
It is clear where this is heading from a report last week proposing ‘Alternative Arrangements’ for the border co-authored by Shanker Singham, a pro-Brexit trade specialist who is likely to feature in Mr Johnson’s team of top advisers.
It calls for a raft of measures - from digital customs forms, geo-tracking vehicles and mobile veterinary inspections - that will, as Mr Singham admits, require checks and controls, just not at the border. The EU has already expressed scepticism ...
[The Irish government] argues that checks are absolutely the issue in a borderland which would actively resist the imposition of any such checks in the name of an ‘English’ Brexit that they never voted for.
May challenges a journalist who asks about increased support for independence. She says the SNP actually lost support at the 2017 election.May challenges a journalist who asks about increased support for independence. She says the SNP actually lost support at the 2017 election.
And that’s it. The speech and Q&A are over.And that’s it. The speech and Q&A are over.
I will post a summary soon.I will post a summary soon.
Q: What advice would you give to your successor about dealing with Nicola Sturgeon?Q: What advice would you give to your successor about dealing with Nicola Sturgeon?
May criticises Sturgeon for dismissing her speech before it was even delivered. Sturgeon should focus on day to day issues that matter to people in Scotland, she says.May criticises Sturgeon for dismissing her speech before it was even delivered. Sturgeon should focus on day to day issues that matter to people in Scotland, she says.
Q: Which of your successors will be best for the Tories in Scotland?Q: Which of your successors will be best for the Tories in Scotland?
May refuses to answer.May refuses to answer.
Q: You accept Gordon Brown’s analysis about the state of the union. So when will there be another independence referendum?Q: You accept Gordon Brown’s analysis about the state of the union. So when will there be another independence referendum?
May says the the SNP government should stop obsessing about independence and focus on governing.May says the the SNP government should stop obsessing about independence and focus on governing.
Q: Is there an explicit threat to the union from no-deal?Q: Is there an explicit threat to the union from no-deal?
May says she has always stressed the need to maintain the union. She thinks her successor will want to do the same.May says she has always stressed the need to maintain the union. She thinks her successor will want to do the same.
Q: Will no-deal end the union? And is that a risk worth taking?Q: Will no-deal end the union? And is that a risk worth taking?
May says she thinks the government can deliver Brexit and strengthen the union.May says she thinks the government can deliver Brexit and strengthen the union.
May says not enough thought has gone into how the UK government supports the union.May says not enough thought has gone into how the UK government supports the union.
She says she has asked Lord Dunlop, a government minister, to review what more the UK government can do to ensure that it works in a way that strengthens the union.She says she has asked Lord Dunlop, a government minister, to review what more the UK government can do to ensure that it works in a way that strengthens the union.
It will be for her successor to take this work forward, she says. But she says both Boris Johnson and Jeremy Hunt support the idea.It will be for her successor to take this work forward, she says. But she says both Boris Johnson and Jeremy Hunt support the idea.
May says the SNP accused her of using Brexit to claw back powers from Holyrood. She says that claim was “absurd”. But it also showed how complicated implementing Brexit would be.May says the SNP accused her of using Brexit to claw back powers from Holyrood. She says that claim was “absurd”. But it also showed how complicated implementing Brexit would be.
She says the Welsh government was willing to compromise with the UK government over how powers being repatriated from Brussels would be distributed. But the Scottish government was not, she says.She says the Welsh government was willing to compromise with the UK government over how powers being repatriated from Brussels would be distributed. But the Scottish government was not, she says.
She says that is because, while others are willing to work with Westminster, the SNP government is not.She says that is because, while others are willing to work with Westminster, the SNP government is not.
An SNP Scottish government will only ever seek to further the agenda of separation. That is a fact of political life in the UK at the moment.An SNP Scottish government will only ever seek to further the agenda of separation. That is a fact of political life in the UK at the moment.
May says the Irish border, and the need to protect it, was a major obstacle to getting a Brexit deal agreeing.May says the Irish border, and the need to protect it, was a major obstacle to getting a Brexit deal agreeing.
She defends the “backstop insurance policy”, saying it respected the compromise in Ireland agreed by the Good Friday agreement.She defends the “backstop insurance policy”, saying it respected the compromise in Ireland agreed by the Good Friday agreement.
She says it will be for her successor to find a solution. But she says there must be no “false choice” between respecting the Belfast agreement (her term for the Good Friday agreement - the unionst term) and delivering Brexit. Any solution must do both, she says.She says it will be for her successor to find a solution. But she says there must be no “false choice” between respecting the Belfast agreement (her term for the Good Friday agreement - the unionst term) and delivering Brexit. Any solution must do both, she says.
May says her successor must not advocate an Irish border policy that would put the Good Friday agreement at risk.May says her successor must not advocate an Irish border policy that would put the Good Friday agreement at risk.
May says delivering a Brexit that protects all parts of the UK has been a priority for her. She says her failure to achieve this is a source of regret.May says delivering a Brexit that protects all parts of the UK has been a priority for her. She says her failure to achieve this is a source of regret.
May says safeguarding the union will take longterm work.May says safeguarding the union will take longterm work.
Two things are essential, she says.Two things are essential, she says.
First, the government has to deliver Brexit.First, the government has to deliver Brexit.
And, second, the government must do more to bind together the different countries of the UK.And, second, the government must do more to bind together the different countries of the UK.
May says she attended the D-day commemorations. She says there is no better example of the nations of the United Kingdom achieving something by working together.May says she attended the D-day commemorations. She says there is no better example of the nations of the United Kingdom achieving something by working together.
And she says the bail-out of the banking system after the 2008 crash was only possible because of the size of the UK economy.And she says the bail-out of the banking system after the 2008 crash was only possible because of the size of the UK economy.
May says the Scottish independence referendum was meant to settle the matter for a generation.May says the Scottish independence referendum was meant to settle the matter for a generation.
But Nicola Sturgeon asked for another vote just three years later. May says she said no because she thought that was wrong. It will be for her successor to decide what to do next, she says.But Nicola Sturgeon asked for another vote just three years later. May says she said no because she thought that was wrong. It will be for her successor to decide what to do next, she says.
BBC News are giving up on their live coverage of the May speech after about 10 minutes.BBC News are giving up on their live coverage of the May speech after about 10 minutes.
But there is a live feed at the top of the blog.But there is a live feed at the top of the blog.
Theresa May is speaking now.Theresa May is speaking now.
She says that when Gordon Brown spoke recently about the United Kingdom union being more at risk than at any time in the last 300 years, he spoke for many people.She says that when Gordon Brown spoke recently about the United Kingdom union being more at risk than at any time in the last 300 years, he spoke for many people.