Richard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance) | Oireachtas source

It is clear since Theresa May abandoned her futile attempt to engage with headbangers like Boris Johnson, the European Research Group, ERG, Rees-Mogg and the Democratic Unionist Party, DUP, that there is now a little bit of hope that reason might prevail and we might avoid the crash-out because she is talking to a man much maligned in this House, Jeremy Corbyn, a socialist and left-winger, and Corbyn does not want a race to the bottom Brexit. He is saying he is willing to consider backing the deal as long as workers' rights and environmental and health standards are not undermined. It is the headbanger politics on the right of the Tory party that have left us in this mess. What is the European Union's attitude and the attitude of the Taoiseach towards the possibility of a general election in Britain? If that becomes a prospect, that would be a very good thing for us and Europe. Ireland should be very tolerant of creating the space for a general election that might change the political landscape in the direction of the left and of Mr. Corbyn in Britain because we would be looking at a far better opportunity for a deal that was not a crazy crash-out.

I note from the Taoiseach's comments about meetings over recent days that there were more detailed discussions about arrangements for the Border issue and so on in the event of a crash-out, which we hope does not happen. Will the Taoiseach elaborate on these because there is an anxiety, notwithstanding positive statements from European leaders, that in the event of a crash-out, Europe might push for Border infrastructure to protect the Single Market?

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