Trump will not do trade deal with UK as NI is ‘back door’ to the EU, MPs told
Hindustan TimesUS President-elect Donald Trump will not do a trade deal with the UK because Northern Ireland is a “back door” to the EU, MPs have been told. “I think it therefore is in the national interest, it’s in the Government’s interest, it’s in our trading interest, to fix this arrangement so that we can on the best possible terms pursue a trade deal with Americans who, at the end of the day, are our best friends in all of this.” Later the TUV leader intervened on former Tory leader Sir Iain Duncan Smith to ask if he believed the current system with regard to Northern Ireland would disincentivise a US deal. “When you’ve 300 areas of law, including customs, including the very definition of what is Northern Ireland’s territory in trading terms, which are governed by foreign EU laws, then you’ve created the situation where Northern Ireland in that context is a veritable colony.” DUP leader Gavin Robinson said the EU-UK Withdrawal Agreement and Windsor Framework created “not a very enjoyable game of whack-a-mole” for Northern Ireland. “People who I represent don’t recognise the Mad Max scenario that the members continue to paint about a lack of availability of food and of products on our shelves – it’s not the reality that people are living in.” Northern Ireland Office minister Fleur Anderson said the Government would “only support sustainable arrangements for Northern Ireland that work for business, protect the UK’s internal market, and uphold our international obligations”.