Greens say withdrawal of UK staff from Brussels is ‘dereliction of duty’
13 August 2019
Responding to reports that Prime Minister Boris Johnson is planning to pull UK officials from meetings in Brussels (1),
Green Party Deputy Leader Amelia Womack said:
“The plans would constitute a complete dereliction of duty by the Government that will consciously fail to perform its basic functions.”
“Once again it is clear that for propagandistic reasons the Prime Minister would risk the security of our country and our standing in relation to our natural allies.
“Brexit was never presented as a diminishment of our status in the world. Every day we are safer as a country as a result of the exchange of information with our EU allies.”
“The EU has always been at the forefront of consumer protection, it would be a mistake to abandon those standards.”
Green Party Eastern Region MEP Catherine Rowett said:
“This is a dark day for British diplomacy as Boris Johnson sacrifices our national interest and self-respect on the altar of a regressive nationalism. We cannot solve problems, in Europe or at home, by cutting ourselves off from our neighbours and refusing to talk to anyone.
“The hard-line Brexiteers make grand claims about trade deals with a world beyond Europe but they know that is a lie. Other countries will not want to trade with a UK that is isolated and in chaos after a crash-out Brexit.
“Nobody voted for lessening British influence in the world or for greater hardship at home, and Boris Johnson’s government has no right to impose that on us.”
Notes