Key points:
- Theresa May promises to ‘battle for Britain’ as she returns to Brussels
- She faces new pressure to abandon no-deal plans for Brexit
- Liam Fox tells Sophy Ridge no-deal is “survivable”
“We won’t take border clash on the chin” – Sinn Fein reopens Ireland debate
Mary Lou McDonald said: “As the Brexit drama comes to a climax, we have to accept there is a possibility, if not a probability, of a hard Brexit crash and in those circumstances, we believe that the disruption and damage to the island of Ireland would be such that, don’t imagine that we will philosophically take it on the chin.
“Put simply, if the border in Ireland cannot be mitigated, cannot be managed in the short term, well then you put the question democratically in the hands of the people and allow them to remove the border.
“Bear in mind the people of Northern Ireland did not consent to Brexit.”
‘No one will tolerate a hard border on our island’
Mary Lou McDonald, leader of Sinn Fein, tells Andrew Marr that a hard border would not be tolerated.
“It would be grossly wreckless for the Tories in London to play chicken with that process.
“We are resolute on this side of the pond, there will be no hard border.
“Peace is a precious thing, which we have built collectively, and shame on anyone who would play games with that. There is hot air and high rhetoric around the backstop but it’s a simple process to protect the peace.”
Is Liam Fox prepared to delay Brexit in the right circumstances?
There has been speculation that Article 50 will have to be extended to allow a deal to be reached with the European Union.
He told Sophy Ridge he would not accept time extension in the context of not having a deal at all, but it’s a “very different argument” if there’s time needed for more legislation.
But he cautioned against relying on World Trade Organisation terms, which is what Britain will revert to trading on if no deal is reached.
He said: “If WTO was so good people wouldn’t be looking to have trade agreements or customs unions which are ways in which you can further improve on those WTO rules.
“It has always seemed to me a bit strange that people would say ‘well we don’t need to worry about having a future trade deal with Europe, we can operate on WTO terms’, while at the same time saying we should have a free trade agreement with the United States to get away from WTO rules. We have to be consistent.”
Is there going to be a new party formed?
According to The Observer, there are six MPs in Labour preparing to quit the party and form a centre group.
Sophy Ridge asked Lib Dem leader Vince Cable whether his party had been approached about the potential for a new party and what he thought.
He said: “Yes, indeed, it’s well reported for months that there is actually a much bigger group of Labour MPs, not just six, who are deeply unhappy with (Jeremy) Corbyn’s leadership and don’t see any future (in the Labour Party).
“there’s Conservatives as well, it’s not just the Labour Party. I think as of now they are basically working with us to stop Brexit, to try and get a People’s Vote. There is a very strong group of people working as a team to try and deliver that.
“I think when the Brexit issue is resolved one way or another, I think they will reconsider their position in the Labour Party.
“I can’t predict exactly what will happen but I think there’s a real chance of a significant group breaking away and if that happens we will work with them in some form.”
He said the Lib Dems would not be “subsumed” into another party but would be happy to work with one.
Mr Cable said: “There are all kind of possibilities but I think where there are common values we will operate together.
“It’s very difficult to set up a new party under the first past the post system, I think they recognise that and it will be sensible if we do have common values and common interests that we work together in some way, but that’s some way down the track.”
Liam Fox: To extend because we don’t have an agreement is not acceptable
Dr Fox said there should not be an extension to Article 50 simply because there wasn’t a deal on the table with the EU.
He added that if there was an extension to enable the final details to be dealt with, that was a different set of events to coming up with a deal at all.
He said we have to guard again irrational pessimism and irrational optimism.
Dr Fox said: “There would be disruption to our trade but it would be survivable. We wouldn’t want to put our economy into a position of unnecessary turmoil.”
‘A no deal Brexit is an uncertainty that is completely unacceptable for all sorts of people’ – Shadow Attorney General Shami Chakrabarti reacts to Nissan cancelling plans to build a new model in Sunderland.#Ridge
For more, head here: https://t.co/KxKLJs9ljT pic.twitter.com/i4BpO9OPm8
— Ridge on Sunday (@RidgeOnSunday) February 3, 2019
Liam Fox: Ireland must negotiate
Earlier in the show, Liam Fox spoke to Sophy Ridge about the ongoing discussions and the issue of the hard border on the island of Ireland.
He said: “If Ireland won’t negotiate, they might get no-deal. The EU said no-deal is the best route to get a hard border.
“For the Irish it’s more important than most to talk to us about the alternative ways to avoid a hard border.”
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