No EU option for North or Scotland, says Theresa Villiers

Northern Ireland and Scotland will not be able to attain special EU status in the wake of Brexit, Theresa Villiers has said.

The Northern Ireland secretary dismissed the suggestion that regions that backed a Remain vote could have a relationship with the EU distinct from England and Wales, where majorities favoured a UK exit.

While the referendum result has raised the prospect of another vote on Scottish independence and prompted Sinn Féin to demand a border poll on Irish unity, pro-Remainers in Scotland and Northern Ireland have also called for special measures to ensure their EU links are kept, whatever the constitutional consequences of Brexit.

Ms Villiers, who campaigned for a Leave vote, said the UK would be treated as one nation in negotiations with the EU. The British secretary of state was in Belfast for a day of talks on Brexit and other Northern Ireland-specific issues with the region’s political leaders including foreign minister Charlie Flanagan.

“EU rules are very clear, membership is at member state level. It’s a national question, it’s not possible within EU rules to have a part of a country being part of the EU. So this decision has been made, the people of the UK have voted to leave the EU. That decision is going to be respected, that’s what the government will take forward,” she said.

Ms Villiers said “particular interests” in Northern Ireland, primarily the fact it shares a land border with an EU state, would need to be protected in the talks.

Northern Ireland secretary Theresa Villiers meeting with Foreign Affairs Minister Charlie Flanagan, First Minister Arlene Foster, and Deputy First Minister Martin McGuinness

She again moved to allay fears expressed by communities on both sides of the border that free movement of goods and people will be curtailed after Brexit.

“I believe we can keep a border which is as open and free-flowing as it is today,” she said.

“I believe it is in the interests of both the UK and Irish governments to do that. It’s clear both governments want to keep an open border. I believe, in those circumstances, it’s going to be deliverable.

“It will take some common sense, it will take some negotiation, but it’s not rational for the EU to want to block something which is in the interests of one of its remaining member states — ie, Ireland.”