Stormont leaders clash over PM’s backstop demand

BELFAST: Northern Ireland’s political leaders have clashed over Boris Johnson’s claim that the backstop will damage the peace process.

Sinn Fein accused the Prime Minister of “rank hypocrisy”, insisting a no-deal Brexit is what could endanger the peace, while the DUP said the EU had to accept that political unionism in the region would not accept the contentious measure. The Alliance Party accused Johnson of being “reckless and disingenuous”.

The Prime Minister outlined a number of reasons for his demand for the EU to ditch the backstop in a letter to European Council president Donald Tusk. One of them was the assertion that it would undermine the Good Friday (Belfast) Agreement of 1998, by weakening the “delicate balance” between the region’s divided communities.

Sinn Fein’s Stormont leader, Michelle O’Neill, strongly criticised the Prime Minister’s approach. “It is rank hypocrisy for Boris Johnson to claim to be acting in the interests of the peace process, claiming it will be damaged by the backstop,” she said. While business and agriculture bodies have been vocal in their support for the backstop, unionist politicians have been vociferous in their opposition.