Pro-Remain Parties “We urge the EU to remain firm in that position and call on the British Government to reconsider the reckless path that they have adopted”

| Readers 2500

“With only eight weeks until the UK exits the EU, the four pro-Remain Assembly parties – SDLP, Sinn Féin, Alliance and Greens – are united in our support for the backstop negotiated by both the European Union and the British Government.

“We continue to believe that there is no such thing as a good or sensible Brexit, and any opportunity to reconsider Brexit should be taken.

“We believe that while the Withdrawal Agreement is imperfect, it will mitigate against a bad Brexit which is being imposed against the democratic will of a majority of citizens here who decisively voted to Remain within the European Union.

“We believe that the ‘backstop’ contained within the Withdrawal Agreement is a vital insurance policy which avoids a hard border on the island of Ireland.

“While it may never need to be deployed, the backstop is the guarantee in all circumstances that no hard border will be re-established on this island.

“Prime Minister Theresa May and her government in their attempts to abandon the ‘backstop’ have demonstrated an enormous act of bad faith.

“Abandoning the backstop would put at real risk the interests, rights and entitlements of the citizens, households, businesses and the Good Friday Agreement endorsed overwhelmingly in 1998.

“While Westminster has voted this week against a No Deal Brexit, it is non-legally binding, and therefore no steps have yet been taken to prevent a catastrophic crash out from the EU on 29 March.

“The EU has been crystal clear in stating that they will not reopen the negotiation on the Withdrawal Agreement, including the ‘backstop’.

“We urge the EU to remain firm in that position and call on the British Government to reconsider the reckless path that they have adopted.”

Co-signed by:

Colum Eastwood MLA, Leader of the SDLP

Michelle O’Neill MLA, Sinn Féin Assembly Leader & Vice-President

Naomi Long MLA, Leader, Alliance Party NI

Claire Bailey MLA, Leader of the Green Party NI

Discover more from Slugger O'Toole

Subscribe to get the latest posts to your email.

Recent posts

Brian O'Neill

Stormont agrees budget. UUP votes against…

Brian O'Neill

Alliance MLA Patrick Brown resigns his South Down seat…

Alan Meban (Alan in Belfast)

Pushing Boundaries: A century of change in the politics of Belfast

We are reader supported. Donate to keep Slugger lit!

For over 20 years, Slugger has been an independent place for debate and new ideas. We have published over 40,000 posts and over one and a half million comments on the site. Each month we have over 70,000 readers. All this we have accomplished with only volunteers we have never had any paid staff.

Slugger does not receive any funding, and we respect our readers, so we will never run intrusive ads or sponsored posts. Instead, we are reader-supported. Help us keep Slugger independent by becoming a friend of Slugger. While we run a tight ship and no one gets paid to write, we need money to help us cover our costs.

If you like what we do, we are asking you to consider giving a monthly donation of any amount, or you can give a one-off donation. Any amount is appreciated. 

Give a monthly donation Give a one-off donation