Angela Rayner hits again at Donald Trump over united Ireland outburst
Donald Trump sparked a diplomatic row with his explosive intervention on the unification of Ireland, which will put the beleaguered US-UK special relationship under further strain
Angela Rayner brushed off the US President’s outburst on the unification of Ireland(Image: Tayfun Salci/ZUMA Press Wire/Shutterstock)
Angela Rayner has hit back at Donald Trump after the US President said he would “love” to see a united Ireland.
The top Cabinet Minister brushed off his latest outburst, saying “Donald Trump is Donald Trump”. She told Sky News: “The President will say and speak his mind as he sees it. But look, we’re really serious about the Good Friday Agreement. We’re very proud of our history.”
Asked if Andy Burnham had spoken to Mr Trump about the comments, Ms Rayner said: “President Trump will say whatever is on his mind. But I’m sure our Prime Minister also, you know, has conversations. And I’m sure he reiterated our position, which is that we support the good work of the Good Friday Agreement.”
Mr Trump sparked a diplomatic row with his explosive intervention during a visit to Dublin on Saturday, which will put the beleaguered US-UK special relationship under further strain.
Sitting alongside Taoiseach Micheál Martin, Mr Trump said: “I don’t want to cause any problems but I will tell you I’d love to see it unified.”
He went on: “I have friends on both sides, great people. They’re Irish people – how can they be bad, right? I’d love to see it unified. It would be great. A great feather in everybody’s cap if that happened.
“It’s gonna happen eventually. It may as well happen now. You have the right man over here to make it happen. Now, the UK will have something to say about it, obviously. But I think it’d be a great thing. How can it be bad?”
His comments drew a backlash across the political divide. Tory leader Kemi Badenoch said: “This sort of loose talk about the future of democratic countries is deeply unhelpful and creates unnecessary tension.”
Mr Burnham recently said the question of an Irish border poll was not on the table during his first official visit to Northern Ireland. The PM said the Brexit and Scottish independence referendums showed the “risks that come from those situations take a long time to heal”.
Under the terms of the Good Friday Agreement, the UK secretary of state has a duty to call a referendum if it appears likely a majority would vote for Irish unification. The people of the Republic of Ireland must also vote in favour to effect constitutional change.
Ms Rayner also hit back at Mr Trump’s claim that he might not help the UK should Argentina try and invade the Falklands again. She said: “The Falklands is, you know, we’re not renegotiating. We’re not opening anything up there. The Falklands is as it always has been.”
