Rishi Sunak and former Irish Taoiseach Leo Varadkar (Image: GETTY)
Leo Varadkar and Michel Barnier conspired to destroy the United Kingdom in the aftermath of the 2016 referendum - and their plot will come to fruition unless it is stopped in its tracks, Brexiteer Ben Habib has claimed.
Ireland’s former Taoiseach, who quit after a second spell in the top job last month, and former EU Brexit negotiator Mr Barnier, worked closely together after Britain voted to quit the bloc eight years ago.
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Mr Varadkar became a familiar figure in the negotiations, repeatedly insisting there could be no deal which resulted in infrastructure or border checks hindering freedom of movement between the Republic and Northern Ireland.
In 2018, he warned of a "real risk" of returning to the days of the Troubles if a hard border returned in a move which was interpreted by some - including Reform UK deputy leader Mr Habib - as a thinly veiled threat.
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Michel Barnier, the EU's former Chief Brexit Negotiator (Image: GETTY)
Referring to the Northern Ireland Protocol, the mechanism which the UK Government envisaged would prevent such a hard border on the island of Ireland, Mr Habib, an ex-Brexit Party MEP, told Express.co.uk: “So weak is our political will that, instead of putting the customs border where it belongs between Northern Ireland and the Republic, our government decided to partition the United Kingdom.
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“The border was put down the Irish Sea.”
Mr Varadkar and Mr Barnier were to blame, argued Mr Habib, who will attend an anti-protocol rally in Belfast along with other prominent Unionists on Friday.
He added: “There was a time when the UK would not bow to threats of terrorism – no more.”
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Reform UK leader Ben Habib pictured in Belfast (Image: Ben Habib)
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Referring to the 1998 deal, struck between then-Prime Minister Tony Blair and former Taoiseach Bertie Ahern, he continued: “For those who claim the Belfast (Good Friday) Agreement prohibits a border on the island of Ireland, they are either ignorant or lying.
“The heart of the agreement required the Republic to give up its constitutional claim to Northern Ireland. It recognised Northern Ireland’s legitimacy and its border.”
The only prohibition related to military installations on the border which have been “long ago removed” and none had been suggested since, Mr Habib pointed out.
He stressed: “Varadkar and Barnier said the price of Brexit would be Northern Ireland and that indeed was the price for the half-baked awful BRINO delivered by Boris Johnson.
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The UK has partitioned itself to please the EU and Republic of Ireland.
The greatest act of constitutional self harm in my lifetime.
If you care about the Union of Great Britain and Northern Ireland please join us on Friday night
???????????????????????????????????? pic.twitter.com/0Heh9NbmKd
— Ben Habib (@benhabib6) May 14, 2024
“Matters have got even worse since then. Major Unionist parties in Northern Ireland have themselves bowed to the border.
“The UUP do not care about it and the DUP denies it exists. Some lone voices in the DUP speak out against their own party’s lie, but these voices are too lame do anything meaningful; putting party (yet again) ahead of country.”
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Mr Habib said his party had therefore “allied with the Traditional Unionist Voice” to contest elections in Northern Ireland “and hold not just Westminster but the DUP and others to account”.
He concluded: “Rishi Sunak and the DUP lied again when they said they had removed the Irish Sea border. Its presence was reaffirmed this week by the High Court in Belfast which confirmed that human rights law in Great Britain differs from that in Northern Ireland. The EU rules Northern Ireland.
“No matter how demanding the task, Jim Allister and I will not cease in our fight against the biggest constitutional self-harm meted out by Westminster to our once great country – the partition in the Irish Sea.”
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