Labour leader lambasts Tories for 'strained' relations with Ireland and says No10 must rebuild Dublin ties

He told an audience at Queen’s University Belfast this morning that the London government must repair and strengthen its relationship with Dublin.

Sir Keir called for a “change of direction from the Prime Minister”, telling the audience “nothing has been more self-defeating than the determination of some Conservative ministers to see our friends in Dublin as adversaries on Brexit. That has damaged the political process here in Northern Ireland, no question.

“It’s certainly not the spirit of 1998.”

He also said: “The British government must normalise and strengthen relationships with Dublin.

“Honestly, relations should never have been this strained. Brexit was a rupture in the UK’s diplomatic stance, a call to change in every area of our society, which had to be recognised. I’ve been very clear about this. My government will make it work.”

Meanwhile the UK government said that it hopes there can be a "broad range of agreement" over any deal with the EU to resolve the problems with the Northern Ireland Protocol.

Sir Keir had said Labour will support the Government if it faces opposition to a deal at Westminster from hardline Tory Brexiteers.

A No 10 spokesman said they were still working with Brussels to resolve the outstanding issues.

"We continue to work closely with our EU counterparts. It remains our ambition to try to reach an agreement as soon as we can with the EU," the spokesman said.

"As the Prime Minister said before, of course he wants to have a broad range of agreement over the issues we know the protocol is facing."

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