Taoiseach says Theresa May should face down opponents of soft Brexit

Taoiseach Leo Varadkar has expressed confidence that British prime minister Theresa May will be successful if she decides to face down leading Brexiteers opposed to a soft Brexit which is expected to be outlined in a paper produced later tonight following a British Cabinet meeting.

Mr Varadkar said that he was reluctant to comment on the detail of what Ms May is proposing to her Cabinet at the meeting at Chequers today until he sees the detail of the paper but he had no doubt that she was capable of facing down those opposed to a soft Brexit.

British government

“I don’t want to comment on internal matters within the British government but I can say having met Theresa May on several occasions, I think she is a very strong, very capable woman and I believe if she decides to lead, she will be successful and the vast majority of people will follow her,” he said.

Speaking in Cork this afternoon, Mr Varadkar said that he had met Ms May last week and Tanaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs Simon Coveney had met his British counterparts so they had some indication of that might be included in the British White Paper.

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"We have some indications what it may contain and the indications are that it could be a significant step in the right direction and I've always said the European Union will be flexible if the United Kingdom changes some of its red lines," he said.

He said that he expected that the White Paper explaining the new relationship that the UK wants to have with the European Union and he was “hopeful that it will form the basis for negotiations on the future final status relationship between the European Union and the UK”.

However, Mr Varadkar cautioned that experience over the past two years had taught him to actually see what London is proposing before commenting in detail but he did stress that whatever is proposed, the backstop position published in March.

Future relationship

“I have to really see the plan before I can comment on detail but plan or no plan, we still need a backstop because negotiating a new treaty of the future relationship between the European Union and the UK is going to take a couple of years, it could take the entire transition period if not more.

“We need a backstop not because we think it’ll ever have to be used but it gives us that absolute assurance that there will be no hard border on our island at least unless and until this new agreement is negotiated so there still has to be a backstop as part of the withdrawal agreement.”

Mr Varadkar said that Ireland's objectives remain as they always have which is to avoid a hard border between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland, maintain a common travel between Britain and Ireland and also to minimize any disruption to trade between Britain and Ireland.