Ex-Northern Ireland Secretaries issue stark warning over Brexit risk to Good Friday Agreement

Emilio Casalicchio

Five former Northern Ireland Secretaries have joined forces to warn that a hard border on the island after Brexit would threaten “the very existence” of the Good Friday Agreement.



In an open letter, Peter Mandelson, John Reid, Paul Murphy, Peter Hain and Shaun Woodward urged the Government to put peace in Northern Ireland “above its desire to have Brexit at any cost”.

They said ministers should leave open the option of remaining in the EU single market and customs union - both of which the Government has already ruled out.

The Labour former frontbenchers issued the stark warning - organised by anti-Brexit campaign group Open Britain - on the 20th anniversary of the signing of the historic peace deal.

Theresa May has insisted there can be no hard border on the island of Ireland after Brexit and vowed to protect the Good Friday Agreement.

But a memo written by Boris Johnson and later leaked to the press appeared to suggest he thought a hard border could be on the cards.

In the letter from the ex-Cabinet ministers, published in the Times, they said: “We are concerned that the re-introduction of a hard border will lead to instability that could threaten the very existence of the agreement...

“Imposing a hard border between north and south as a result of Brexit would disrupt [the] settlement, upset the political balances central to it and overturn the popular consent that endorsed it.”

And they added: “Those who value the agreement and the peace it brought to Northern Ireland have a duty to speak up and make clear their opposition to the government’s Brexit policy.

“They should insist that the option of continuing in the customs union and single market remains open.

“In the coming months the government’s commitment to the Good Friday agreement will be tested.

“The government must put partisan interest aside and act in the interests of all by prioritising its commitment to peace in Northern Ireland above its desire to have Brexit at any cost.”

Meanwhile, Shadow International Trade Secretary Barry Gardiner has has claimed the Good Friday Agreement has been "played up" for economic and political reasons during the Brexit negotiations.