Brexit delay a trigger for further chaos, warns Sinn Féin

Sinn Féin has questioned the rationale for delaying Brexit. Party leader in Northern Ireland Michelle O'Neill predicted an extension of Article 50 would potentially deliver only more "chaos and Tory infighting".

British prime minister Theresa May has promised MPs a vote on delaying Brexit if Parliament rejects her proposed withdrawal agreement and a no-deal exit.

Ahead of a meeting of Sinn Féin’s northern membership in Belfast, Mrs O’Neill was asked about the prospect of the timetable being pushed back.

“For Theresa May to extend the deadline you have to ask for what purpose, what would it serve,” she said.

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“Will we get more of the same from Westminster, will we get more chaos, will we get more Tory infighting, or will we actually see a resolution?

“There is a withdrawal agreement on the table, we have influenced that withdrawal agreement and the (Northern Ireland) protocol, and we want to see that delivered. Not because we think it is a good deal but because we think it is the least worst option.”

Westminster remains deadlocked on Brexit, with the controversial Border backstop the key obstacle. The backstop mechanism to maintain a free flowing Border would be triggered in the absence of a wider trade deal after the Brexit implementation period. It would mean the UK remains in the customs union and Northern Ireland additionally would be tied to EU single market rules on goods.

Mrs May is attempting to find an alternative to the current backstop format to win over critics of her deal, including the DUP. The DUP position appears to have evolved since the start of the year.

The party had demanded the complete removal of the backstop from the withdrawal treaty, but has now signalled it could live with the measure as long as it is temporary.

Mrs O’Neill, who accused the DUP of advancing a “poisonous” position on Brexit, said the backstop could not be time limited.

“Let’s be very clear, there is no room for movement on the backstop . . . it is an insurance policy and it fails to become a backstop if there is a time limit,” she said.

“So the DUP are playing fast and loose with people’s livelihoods here . . . and they are absolutely on the wrong side of the Brexit piece. So there will be no opening of the withdrawal agreement and there will be no time limit on the backstop.”

At the Sinn Féin meeting in west Belfast South Down MP Chris Hazzard was elected as the party’s new northern chairman.