- Staff Notice
The EU's chief Brexit negotiator has denied Arlene Foster's claims that he has been "aggressive" towards Northern Ireland unionists in the Brexit talks.
It comes after the DUP leader said Michel Barnier did not understand the dispute and was not an "honest broker".
I can't find the story about Barnier's comments this morning, so I'll just link this other story for now.
Just as we got a new home secretary, Barnier was making a speech in Ireland and it wasn't good...
I only saw part of the speech, but basically he said the UK's proposals for the Irish border are unsatisfyingly and he doesn't agree with them. The British government has hinted that electronic means will be used to "police" the border, but has stated its policy og having no hard border which could jeopardise the peace process.
The UK is damned if it does and damned if it doesn't.
Barner has previously said that the EU must have a proper border with non-EU countries and the Irish government has fully supported that while on the other hand saying they will never tolerate a hard border in Ireland.
Perhaps this just another negotiating tactic by Barnier, but could the Irish problem derail Brexit?