Sinn Féin will not take Westminster seats to ‘save’ Brexit deal
Sinn Féin president Mary Lou
McDonald has ruled out any possibility of her party’s seven MPs taking their
seats in the House of Commons to vote for Theresa May’s Brexit withdrawal deal.
The UK prime minister has faced opposition from many within her
own party as well as government partners the Democratic Unionist Party over the draft deal.
Mrs May
faced a tumultuous week that saw the departure of ministers including Brexit secretary Dominic Raab and work and pensions secretary Esther McVey,
and the launch of a high-profile insurrection on the back benches to remove her
from office.
Mrs May
says she hopes to bring the deal before parliament for a vote before Christmas.
While any such vote is expected to be tight, Ms McDonald said her party will
not “ride in on a white charger” to save the day.
Minister
for Foreign Affairs Simon Coveney has urged Sinn Féin to take its seats to vote
on the deal, adding that if the Westminster ballot was lost by two or three
votes then “people will rightly ask some pretty serious questions” of Sinn
Féin.
Ms
McDonald accused Mr Coveney of “playing to the gallery” during his Fine Gael party conference, which is taking place in
Dublin this weekend.
“The
Tánaiste is playing to the gallery, he knows full well that Sinn Féin has been
extremely active in defending Irish interests at every level,” she said.
“He knows
Sinn Féin has an abstentionist policy, he knows full well that the British
parliamentarians have to arrive at their decision, he knows that Sinn Féin
cannot ride in on its white charger and make all of this go away.
“The
Tánaiste has urged measure in the comments that people make in terms of seeing
this deal over the line. I think he needs to practise what he preaches.”
“I think
the Taoiseach and Tánaiste as they speak to their party conference this weekend
need to bear in mind that Brexit is for keeps, it is not done yet, we are still
in the middle of a very, very dangerous scenario for this entire country,” she
said.
“They need
to lead from the front, not be speculators on the sidelines, not to be
harbingers of doom, but to act responsibly, to lead and to ensure that whatever
happens there will be no hardening of the border, that our peace agreements
will be protected, that our economy will be protected and that citizens’ rights
will be underwritten.”
Ms
McDonald spoke to the media in Dublin on Saturday morning as she attended a
meeting of Sinn Féin’s leadership over Brexit and its ramifications for
Ireland.
The DUP
has indicated it intends to vote against the withdrawal deal when it comes
before parliament, while Independent North Down MP Lady Sylvia Hermon says she is considering which way she will
vote, adding she wants assurances from the prime minister. - PA
courtesy of the press association and The Independent Newspapers
of London,U.K.
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