Some Actions Not Respectful: UK's 'Brexit Hard Man' Says Sorry To Ireland

A British government minister on Monday apologised for the damage done to diplomatic ties between the UK and Ireland during Brexit negotiations.

A British government minister apologized on Monday for the damage done to diplomatic relations between the United Kingdom and Ireland during the Brexit negotiations.

Steve Baker said he was "sorry that relations between the UK and Ireland have been strained by the Brexit process," during an interview with Irish national radio RTE.

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A prominent Brexit supporter and EU skeptic, who was appointed junior minister in the Northern Ireland office last month, also admitted that his tough stance during talks over the UK's divorce from the EU "caused an enormous amount of anxiety".

"Some of our actions have not respected the legitimate interests of Ireland and I want to correct that," said Baker, who once styled himself as "Brexit tough guy Steve Baker."

"If I have to eat a little humble pie in order to restore broken relationships, to get it done, well, I'm happy to eat a little humble pie."

Baker's comments follow a similar apology he made over relations with Ireland during the Conservative Party's annual conference, which was overshadowed by the fallout from an economic agenda unveiled by new Prime Minister Liz Truss less than a month after Boris Johnson's succession.

The Northern Ireland minister said he had a chance to meet Irish leaders at events following the death of Queen Elizabeth II last month and "felt the ice melt a little".

The Truss government has sought to set a new tone in dealing with the thorny issue of post-Brexit trade rules in Northern Ireland with both Dublin and Brussels.

"a negotiated solution"

Speaking to UTV in Northern Ireland, the British prime minister said Baker was "speaking from personal experience" with his decision to apologise.

But she added that her government "absolutely wants to find a negotiated solution" on trade in the Territory and "work with our neighbors in the Republic of Ireland".

As foreign secretary, Truss led legislation to tear up parts of the Northern Ireland protocol that the UK government signed with the European Union to regulate trade, sending relations down a new low.

The European Commission said on Monday that technical-level talks with Britain, which were suspended in February, will resume this week.

A spokesman said new British Foreign Secretary James Cleverly and EU official on the issue Maros Sefcovic had a "good conversation" about the protocol, which effectively keeps Northern Ireland within the EU's single market to avoid a difficult border on the island of Ireland.

I speak later at a reception,

He also cleverly said that he has all confidence challenges in the relationship with the European Union that will be overcome.

"I have no doubt we will get there because there is no version of the future where the UK is successful, and the EU is not," he said.

“There is no version of the future in which the European Union is successful and the United Kingdom is not.

So we know we will succeed together."

Irish Prime Minister Michael Martin said in response to Baker's apology that he considered the comments "honest".

Taoiseach added in recent discussions with his British counterpart that both had expressed "a desire to have very good relations, obviously,

Between Britain and Ireland as well as between the United Kingdom and the European Union.”

The pro-UK unionist community of Northern Ireland is principally opposed to these arrangements, seeing the border checks it imposes on goods bound for Northern Ireland from mainland Great Britain as a threat to the UK's boycott position.

The DUP boycotted the Northern Ireland Plenipotentiary Council over the protocol, paralyzing the executive since February and despite the May elections.

BY
ProBuzzFeed