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The Taoiseach Leo Varadkar has said whoever becomes the UK\u2019s next prime minister will get a \u201cfair hearing\u201d from the EU, but warned \u201cwe mean what we say\u201d about not re-opening negotiations on the Withdrawal Agreement.<\/p>\nThe Taoiseach Leo Varadkar has said whoever becomes the UK\u2019s next prime minister will get a \u201cfair hearing\u201d from the EU, but warned \u201cwe mean what we say\u201d about not re-opening negotiations on the Withdrawal Agreement.<\/p>\n
Mr Varadkar spoke alongside the UK\u2019s Minister for the Cabinet Office, David Lidington and Scotland\u2019s First Minister Nicola Sturgeon at the end of a British-Irish Council summit meeting in Manchester, England.<\/p>\n
Mr Varadkar said it would \u201cnot be helpful\u201d for him to comment on the Tory leadership race.<\/p>\n
He added: \u201cAt the same time, it needs to be understood that we also mean what we say.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat is the Withdrawal Agreement won\u2019t be re-opened, without a Backstop there will be no transition period or implementation phase, but that we are willing to examine the joint political declaration and make amendments to that if that enables us to proceed to an orderly Brexit with a guarantee there will be no hard border between north and south which is our shared objective.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mr Lidington said both Tory-leadership contenders, Boris Johnson and Jeremy Hunt, have said they do not want a no-deal Brexit, and it is important to \u201ctake their word on that\u201d.<\/p>\n
He also said it was \u201cvery clear\u201d tariffs and checks would be applied to UK trade, \u201con day one\u201d of a \u201cno-deal crash out\u201d.<\/p>\n
But he said there will be a \u201cwindow\u201d when EU leaders will want to hear what Theresa May\u2019s successor has to say, and the Government\u2019s position was still to leave with a deal.<\/p>\n
But Nicola Sturgeon said there was now a \u201creal danger\u201d of a no-deal \u201ccrash out\u201d becoming \u201cinevitable\u201d \u2013 and it was \u201cfutile\u201d to waste time trying to re-negotiate.<\/p>\n
She said: \u201cI think there\u2019s a real danger right now, the positioning of the contenders for leadership of Tory Party starts to make no deal inevitable.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think there\u2019s an alternative to no deal, which is no Brexit through a second referendum, but there\u2019s a danger we end up on a path to no deal that\u2019s very difficult to stop and that is of significant concern.<\/p>\n
\u201cI do think a responsible government and responsible prime minister would make clear that avoiding no deal is an absolute priority, and would not allow UK to crash out of the EU with no deal.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat I think we should all seek to avoid is further time being wasted in this process with a futile attempt to re-open and re-negotiate the Withdrawal Agreement, when the European Union has, and I work on David\u2019s comment that he takes them at their word, because I think it\u2019s very dangerous to continue to waste time assuming something can be achieved that the European Union has made very clear, can\u2019t be achieved.\u201d<\/p>\n
Both Ms Sturgeon and Mr Varadkar said economic assessments forecast rising unemployment and negative consequences for growth and government budgets in Ireland and Scotland if the UK leaves without a deal.<\/p>\n
The Taoiseach added: \u201cNo one is really going to know for sure what the extent of harm will be or how it will play out.\u201d<\/p>\n
Both were asked if Brexit could be stopped during a press conference at the end of the summit.<\/p>\n
Mr Varadkar said: \u201cWell whether Brexit is stopped or not isn\u2019t my business, that\u2019s a decision for Parliament and the people of the United Kingdom.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut I think no deal can be stopped and there\u2019s lots of ways that can be done through revocation of Article 50, Parliament deciding that Parliament thinks there should be a second referendum, or by ratifying the Withdrawal Agreement.\u201d<\/p>\n
Nicola Sturgeon said: \u201cYes I do think Brexit can still be stopped. Let\u2019s be frank about it, time is running out, but if we get and this would be a pre-requisite of this, Jeremy Corbyn and the Labour Party into an unequivocal position of supporting a second referendum, then I think the conditions start to be there for a majority for a second referendum in the House of Commons \u2013 and that is the route to stopping Brexit.<\/p>\n
\u201cOf course you can\u2019t take for granted what the outcome of a second referendum would be, but that is the route to stop it.<\/p>\n
\u201cCertainly from the discussions I\u2019ve had in Brussels in recent times, it\u2019s very clear to me that there\u2019s a significant possibility or probability that the only way of getting a further extension beyond the 31st of October would be for some public democratic process like a referendum or perhaps a general election.\u201d<\/p>\n