British Labour Party urges Tánaiste to clarify if State has concerns over impact of Rwanda Bill on Belfast Agreement

The British Labour Party has urged Tánaiste Micheál Martin to clarify if the Irish Government has any concerns over Rishi Sunak’s Rwanda Bill jeopardising rights protected by the Belfast Agreement.

Stella Creasy, Labour MP for Walthamstow, told The Irish Times that she had not “heard a peep” from Mr Martin, despite writing to him seeking the Coalition’s views over a month ago.

The UK Labour Party, and its Irish counterpart, has raised concerns that the terms of the UK’s Rwanda Bill – which seeks to declare the African state to be a safe country to send migrants who enter the UK illegally for processing – could contravene parts of the Belfast Agreement.

On Tuesday, Ms Creasy said there was “growing concern” in the UK parliament that the Rwanda Bill “undermines the rights protected by the Good Friday Agreement”, arguing that the DUP has put down an amendment “to ensure that it does”.

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“That’s why as soon as the bill was published last December we asked the Irish Government for their view because it’s an obligation on us all to act if it’s at risk. Despite all of this, we’ve still not heard a peep as to whether they’ve even asked the UK government about it,” she said.

“Time is running out to protect the Good Friday Agreement so I urge them to speak up now to ensure this bedrock of peace in Northern Ireland is not put at risk.”

The legislation is at the centre of a political row in London, with the Conservative party split between camps that endorse the new law and two separate groups who respectively feel it is too harsh, or doesn’t go far enough.

It is due for a third reading in the House of Commons this week, with Mr Sunak facing the possibility of a rebellion by backbench MPs that could seriously undermine his leadership

Ms Creasy wrote to Mr Martin in December saying the legislation would change the role of the European Court of Human Rights as refugees facing removal would be unable to rely on ECHR rights in UK courts, which in turn will “not be able to pay any regard to [ECHR] interim rulings”.

“As such, this legislation changes how the UK Government intends to interpret the role of the ECHR in our jurisdiction,” she wrote, asking how the Irish Government would view the approach to the UK’s obligations under international treaties such as the European Convention on Human Rights, which she said has a “key role” in both the Trade and Cooperation Agreement and the Good Friday Agreement.

She said that the Belfast Agreement explicitly sets out that the British government will incorporate the law of the ECHR into Northern Irish Law “with direct access to the courts and remedies for breach of the Convention”.

“I am keen to ensure that as parliamentarians we are able to consider the full impact of this proposed legislation in considering whether it should become law. Given this is being treated as emergency legislation, an urgent response clarifying the position of the Irish Government on this matter would be most welcome,” she wrote to the Tánaiste.

On Tuesday, she said no response had been received.

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