Coveney: No more changes to Brexit deal

Tánaiste Simon Coveney has doubled down on Ireland’s red lines in the Brexit stand-off and warned that new demands to unravel the UK’s EU exit deal will not be considered.

Mr Coveney warned that “we’re all in trouble” if the UK’s new prime minister tears up the proposed deal covering Britain’s exit from the EU.

There was also a danger that co-operation between Ireland and the UK would be lost, he said. And while there was a review mechanism built into the withdrawal agreement, the backstop to prevent a new border and the overall exit deal must be agreed by London first, he said.

Mr Coveney was speaking ahead of tomorrow’s outcome of the Conservative Party leadership race. Rival candidates Boris Johnson and Jeremy Hunt both want the UK to leave the EU in October and are both pledging to renegotiate its exit terms.

Mr Johnson has described the withdrawal agreement as a “dead letter”.

The strong position of the Tánaiste triggered accusations from DUP leader Arlene Foster yesterday that he was trying to “look tough” to the new prime minister.

Speaking in Dublin at a commemoration for former Taoiseach John A Costello, Mr Coveney said he wanted to protect British-Irish relations but the Brexit deal agreed must be “respected”.

“We cannot have a situation towards the end of Brexit negotiations where a new British prime minister makes demands that are totally contrary to the commitments that a government-that he has been part of has made for the last three years, and at the same time expects to be accommodated by the EU. That is just not going to happen,” he said.

However, Mr Coveney said Ireland would not allow its relationship to be undermined by Brexit. It was also hoped that the “ingenuity” that had existed between Ireland and the UK, including over matters such as the common travel area, could be found even amid tensions in the weeks ahead over Brexit.

Nonetheless, he said there was a “real danger” that the two countries could lose what has been described as “the habit of co-operation”.

And while there was an option to review the backstop, this can only be done after the withdrawal agreement is ratified, Mr Coveney told reporters.

“The key thing for us is to have a withdrawal agreement ratified and then, of course, all of the content in that, including review mechanisms and so on, can take effect in time,” he said.

Earlier, in a BBC interview, the foreign affairs minister said there could be no time limit on the backstop, a mechanism designed to ensure there is no new border.

It was also “unfair” to grant a new deal to a new British prime minister after three years of talks with Theresa May, he said.

Mr Coveney laid down several markers for her successor. Speaking about the withdrawal agreement and the backstop, he added: “We have a deal that has involved compromise on both sides, to facilitate, let’s not forget, British red lines throughout this process, and a new British prime minister doesn’t change that.”

Asked about threats to scrap the agreement, he said: “If the approach of the new British prime minister is that they’re going to tear up the withdrawal agreement, then I think we’re in trouble, we’re all in trouble, quite frankly, because it’s a little bit like saying: ‘Either give me what I want or I’m going to burn the house down for everybody.’ ”

Mr Coveney said any decision to crash out without a deal would be “a British choice” and determined by the new British prime minister.

His warning was in addition to an announcement by chancellor Philip Hammond, who has threatened to quit if Boris Johnson becomes the next prime minister.

About 160,000 Conservative members are voting in a postal ballot to elect their next leader. Ballots must be returned by 5pm this evening, with the winner due to be announced tomorrow before Theresa May then steps down on Wednesday.