{"id":26621,"date":"2022-06-24T10:08:00","date_gmt":"2022-06-24T14:08:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/irishexaminerusa.com\/wp\/?p=26621"},"modified":"2022-06-27T10:11:01","modified_gmt":"2022-06-27T14:11:01","slug":"british-labour-party-better-able-to-deal-with-protocol-issues-says-lammy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/irishexaminerusa.com\/wp\/?p=26621","title":{"rendered":"British Labour Party Better Able To Deal With Protocol Issues Says Lammy"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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The UK shadow foreign secretary said that a Labour government would be better received in Brussels (PA)<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Labour\u2019s experience negotiating the Good Friday Agreement means it will be able to secure a better solution to the Northern Ireland Protocol row, David Lammy has said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The UK shadow foreign secretary told an event hosted by the UK In A Changing Europe think tank on Wednesday that a Labour government would be better received in Brussels.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He said: \u201cThe EU must be less rigid.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cBut I\u2019ve been told frankly by EU partners that if there was a partner they could trust they could show more flexibility.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cInstead they have Boris Johnson who lies, breaks the law, and never keeps his promises.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWith a change of Prime Minister and a change of government, the UK could build a stable and mutually beneficial relationship with the EU over the long term.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Speaking on the sixth anniversary of the Brexit referendum, Mr Lammy reiterated Labour\u2019s position that it would not seek to rejoin the EU or re-enter the Customs Union or the Single Market.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But, he said, the party would look to secure \u201cpractical solutions to reduce any checks to their absolute minimum\u201d by pursuing an agreement on food and agricultural standards, sharing trade data and using a \u201crisk based approach\u201d for goods entering Northern Ireland from Great Britain.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He said: \u201cBoth the EU and the UK would have to compromise to make this happen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cBut the last Labour government was able to broker the Good Friday Agreement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe are confident that with trust and goodwill, we would be able to achieve it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Government has proposed a Bill to unilaterally change parts of the Northern Ireland Protocol, arguing this is the only solution after months of stalled negotiations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But Mr Lammy attacked the Bill as \u201ca charter for lawlessness\u201d that undermined international law and \u201crisks emboldening dictators and authoritarian states around the world\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He also accused the Government of being \u201cstuck in a fever dream of 2016\u201d and \u201cpicking petty fights with our closest neighbors\u201d by introducing plans to tear up the Protocol.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He said: \u201cThe Government\u2019s position is that the situation in Ukraine is so serious that their lawbreaking Prime Minister must remain in office, but apparently not serious enough to stop us starting a diplomatic fight with some of our closest allies.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Speaking at the same event earlier on Thursday, former Brexit minister Lord Frost said Brexit \u201cwas working\u201d but argued the EU\u2019s refusal to compromise made action on the Protocol necessary.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He said: \u201cThe delicately balanced compromise that we put in place in 2019, recognizing that we were running high levels of risk in doing so, has come apart much more quickly than most of us thought.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt is unfortunate that, given all the sensitivities, the EU has refused to look at that compromise again and helped us put together something that would properly support the Belfast Good Friday Agreement and enjoy cross-community consent.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIn these circumstances the British Government has no choice in my view (but) to act as it is doing, its responsibility for the integrity of the country and for the Belfast Good Friday Agreement must be paramount.\u201d<\/p>\n

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