Irish PM Varadkar's hope for the UK election: Anything but a hung parliament

Irish PM Varadkar's hope for the UK election: Anything but a hung parliament
Copyright REUTERS
By Euronews
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Whichever way it goes, a government that can't agree will be problematic for Varadkar.

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The Irish Taoiseach, Leo Varadkar, said at the European Council in Brussels on Thursday that he hoped the general election held the same day in the UK would not produce "more uncertainty" in the form of a hung parliament.

"I hope the result is decisive so that we know where we are going in the next few months", Varadkar told reporters.

The best thing for Ireland, for the UK and for Europe, he said, would be "an end to the uncertainty, whether that’s Prime Minister Johnson winning with a large majority, or remain parties winning a majority, we’ll work with whatever the outcome is."

The past years have seen the Brexit negotiations between the EU and the UK as successive British PMs Theresa May and Boris Johnson did not have the needed parliamentary majority to pass a Brexit deal through the House of Commons.

"What has been very hard to work with was a hung parliament that wasn’t able to come to a majority decision on anything. I just hope we’re not in that position tomorrow", Varadkar said.

The Irish leader added that Brexit will not be done on 31 January, when the UK is scheduled to leave the bloc.

"Brexit doesn’t just end with the UK leaving the European Union. We move on to the next phase and that’s going to be really important", he said.

"The withdrawal agreement doesn’t solve the issue of trade, and the trading relationship between Britain and Ireland is essential for our agrifood sector, for our exporters and our small businesses. So it’s going to be really crucial for Ireland that we get a good deal on trade with the UK."

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