Future Labour government in UK could be 'helpful' for Ireland, Leo Varadkar says
Mr Varadkar also welcomed Labour pledges to repeal controversial legislation to deal with the legacy of the conflict
A future Labour government in the UK could be “helpful” for Ireland, former Taoiseach Leo Varadkar has said.
He added if Keir Starmer’s party does win next month’s UK election, he expects it to be “more even-handed” on the North than the Tories. During an appearance at an event in Belfast on Saturday, Mr Varadkar was asked about the implications of the result for the island of Ireland.
He said: “I think if it is a Labour government that could be helpful. Certainly, they feel more of an attachment to the Good Friday Agreement than the Conservatives do.
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“It was a Labour prime minister Tony Blair who negotiated it. They certainly will want a closer relationship with the EU. I think they will be more even-handed when it comes to dealing with Northern Ireland.
“Whereas the Conservative Party is the Conservative and Unionist Party, I think the Labour Party is probably a bit more even-handed.”
Mr Varadkar also welcomed Labour pledges to repeal controversial legislation to deal with the legacy of the conflict. It said it would restore legacy inquests and the ability for victims and survivors to bring civil cases if it comes to power.
Mr Varadkar said: “I think what they have said about legacy is very encouraging as well, that they will repeal the legislation.” He was also asked about the influence of Reform UK leader Nigel Farage on UK politics.
Mr Varadkar said: “Given the First Past The Post electoral system, they [Reform] still might not win any or many seats.
“I think a lot of people in the Conservative Party, when they started to adopt Ukip’s policies, when they agreed to have a referendum on Brexit, they thought that all of that would make Farage and his ideology and philosophy go away.
“And weren’t they wrong? That is a lesson to centre-right parties – and my party is broadly of the centre right – that when you copy the policies of the radical right, it’s a slippery slope. They don’t go away, they often get stronger.”
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