No chance of US-UK free trade deal if Brexit risks peace in Ireland – Pelosi

Nancy Pelosi has warned that there is “no chance” of a US-UK free trade deal passing Congress post-Brexit if it puts peace on the island of Ireland at risk.

The US speaker of the House of Representatives released a statement on Wednesday following recent comments from President Donald Trump’s National Security Advisor John Bolton, who suggested Britain would be at the “front of the trade queue” for any new trade agreement with the US, post-Brexit.

The Democrat house speaker insisted that the Good Friday Agreement, the accord which has been central to the peace process in Northern Ireland following decades of conflict, will be “fiercely defended,” both by her own party and Republicans.

If Brexit undermines the Good Friday accord, there will be no chance of a US-UK trade agreement passing the Congress.

Pelosi’s intervention comes after a number of people from Trump’s administration, including Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, ramped up talk of a trade agreement between the two Western allies.

However, Pelosi warned that if Brexit compromises the “seamless border between the Irish Republic and Northern Ireland” then Congress will block any deal. Many pro-Remainers fear a no-deal Brexit could see the return of a physical barrier on the border with checks on goods and people.

It comes as British Prime Minister Boris Johnson claimed anti-Brexit MPs were in “terrible collaboration” with Brussels to stop the UK leaving the bloc on October 31 without a deal.

During a “People’s PMQs” conducted by Johnson with members of the public via Facebook Live on Wednesday, the first of its kind, the Tory leader hit out at the EU and those he accused of ‘collaborating’ with it.

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