Comments by Irish minister for European affairs, Helen McEntee
- Review mechanism cannot change backstop
- Irish position on backstop also hasn't changed
- UK can't end backstop unilaterally
- A clause to review the backstop does not change the need for it
- We need progress in next week or two for a November summit to take place
Plenty of backstop talk to begin the session but it's very much repeating the status quo we're seeing right now. The EU would only head to the negotiating table if the backstop is open-ended but the UK parliament will only allow May to champion a proposal that includes a time-limited backstop instead.
Tick tock. Tick tock. Let's see if whether or not May can pull off a miracle later in the Commons.
