Guernsey Press

‘Absolutely sensible’ to prepare for Brexit no deal

GUERNSEY and Jersey are planning for the possibility of a Brexit no deal.

Published
Representatives from seven member states pose at the end of the British-Irish Council summit at St Pierre Park Hotel. Left to right, Senator John Le Fondre (Jersey), Irish Taoiseach Leo Varadkar, David Lidington MP, Deputy Gavin St Pier, Welsh First Minister Carwyn Jones, Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon and Howard Quayle, chief minister of the Isle of Man. (Picture by Adrian Miller, 21806729)

The news comes after Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar yesterday warned that a no deal was now more likely during the latest British-Irish Council summit, which was held in Guernsey.

The council brings together the UK and Irish government with the Scottish and Welsh devolved administrations and the Crown Dependencies to discuss common issues.

‘I think it’s more likely than it was a few months ago, but I still don’t think it’s likely,’ said Mr Varadkar during a summit press conference.

‘Ultimately, it’s in the interests of Ireland, in the interests of the United Kingdom, in the interests of the European Union that we have an orderly Brexit and a new relationship that works for everyone.

‘So, that’s what we are going to try and do over the next couple of months. We are going to intensify our efforts to come a withdrawal agreement.’

Guernsey’s chief minister, Gavin St Pier, said that the island also had to consider the possibility of a Brexit no deal. ‘It is absolutely inevitable, sensible, wise and prudent that all administrations should be preparing for that, not necessarily with any expectation that will be the outcome,’ he said.

‘But clearly, it is prudent government to ensure you have got that preparedness whilst clearly planning for a more favourable outcome, as the Taoiseach said.’

Referring to the Irish border situation, Deputy St Pier added: ‘The Crown Dependencies have a not dissimilar challenge to ensure that we have a customs union with the United Kingdom. That we don’t end up with a border running through the middle of the channel from here.

‘We need to embed our historic royal charter rights in a new settlement. So we have many of the same challenges that exist elsewhere and that again is why this forum is such an effective way to share some of the problems.’

Speaking after the press conference, Jersey’s external affairs minister, Senator Ian Gorst, said the island’s most important relationship was with the UK.

Ensuring a common travel area and a customs unions between the Channel Islands and the UK was ‘most important priority’, while wanting to maintain a relationship with the EU.

Asked about planning for a Brexit no deal, he said: ‘We are planning for all scenarios.’

However, British cabinet office minister David Lidington remained positive that a deal would be reached. There had ‘been some good progress on most aspects of the withdrawal agreement in the past few weeks,’ he said.

‘There are certainly, most obviously with the Irish backstop, a couple of important outstanding issues that we need to work on intensively in the months to come.

‘But I remain confident that a withdrawal agreement will be reached in the autumn. That is something that is so evidently all in the interests of all 28 countries involved.’

The UK minister said that ‘nobody would be a winner in the event of a cliff edge’, adding: ‘We obviously plan for all contingencies, we remain both determined and confident that we will get that agreement.’

Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said she was ‘acutely aware’ of the Irish government’s priority to avoid a hard border. ‘The option that sees the UK remaining in the single market and the customs union wouldn’t just be right in my mind for Scotland, and indeed the UK’s economic interests, but it would effectively resolve the Irish issues that we’re been talking about,’ she added.

Speaking after the press conference, UK Brexit minister Robin Walker ruled out a hard border in the English Channel. ‘We want to ensure that the trade, business, that exists between the Crown Dependencies and the UK carries on. We recognise that’s one of the things that through this process we need to sort out in a way that works for the future,’ he said.