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A Northern Ireland-only backstop with Stormont being handed an opt-out vote has been branded a \u201cnon-runner\u201d by the DUP.<\/p>\nA Northern Ireland-only backstop with Stormont being handed an opt-out vote has been branded a \u201cnon-runner\u201d by the DUP.<\/p>\n
Reports from Brussels suggest the EU could offer the arrangement as a way to break the Brexit impasse.<\/p>\n
According to the Times in England, the EU may be willing to accept a Northern Ireland backstop \u2013 with the North remaining in the single market for goods and the customs union \u2013 and allow Stormont to vote after a set period on whether it wants to exit the mechanism.<\/p>\n
Significantly, it was reported that any vote to leave the backstop would require the consent of both the nationalist and the unionist community in the North.<\/p>\n
The DUP\u2019s Brexit spokesman Sammy Wilson rejected the idea, claiming it would hand Sinn F\u00e9in a veto.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis proposal by the European Union comes as no surprise,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt has already been ruled out by the United Kingdom Government. Parliament has been clear that such proposals would never be approved. It is not a serious proposal and should not be treated as such. It is a non-runner.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhilst the United Kingdom Government has put forward sensible and realistic proposals, it is disappointing that the European Union has retreated to its previous failed plans.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis proposal not only rewrites but actually turns the Belfast Agreement\u2019s consent mechanism on its head.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe United Kingdom must leave the European Union as one country and any decision to enter into regulatory alignment must have the consent of both unionists and nationalists.<\/p>\n
\u201cAny proposal which would see the imposition of customs duties for goods moving within the United Kingdom could never be accepted by any UK Government, Parliament or anyone interested in the economic well-being of Northern Ireland.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is worse than Mrs (Theresa) May\u2019s deal which at least contained the pretense of these arrangements only being used as an insurance policy.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis proposal confirms the intended permanency of keeping Northern Ireland in the EU and removing us from the United Kingdom.\u201d<\/p>\n