Brexit-bashing Irish PM Leo Varadkar quits following crushing election defeat
IRISH leader Leo Varadkar has resigned following a crushing defeat in the country’s recent general election.
Varadkar, who has been Taoiseach since 2017, has said he will stay on as a caretaker role until a new leader is elected.
It comes after no single party secured an outright majority in a general election earlier this month, with Mr Varadkar’s Fine Gael party coming third behind Fianna Fail and Sinn Fein.
Talks are currently under way to try to form a coalition government, but the two main parties are refusing to govern with Sinn Fein, which saw a surprising surge of support at the ballot box.
Speaking yesterday he told the Irish parliament: “The responsibility is on all of us to ensure we provide good government, and indeed good opposition.
“I think the onus is on those who have made enormous promises of change to the people during this election who are entrusted with that mandate to bring a programme of government for approval.
“If they cannot, they should say so and be upfront and honest about their failures and the empty promises they made.”
The Brexit basher has repeatedly dismissed the idea Britain can do well without the EU.
Last month before losing the election, he said: “I don’t think the UK has yet come to terms with the fact it’s now a small country.
“The European Union is a union of 27 member states. The UK is only one country.
“And we have a population and a market of 450 million people.
“The UK, it’s about 60 (million). So if these were two teams up against each other playing football, who do you think has the stronger team?”
He also laughed off claims from the Prime Minister that he’d be able to deliver a bumper trade deal by the end of the year.
The ousted leader also sparked fury after claiming Britain’s “colonial history” meant it misunderstood Ireland in the Brexit talks.
He said: “You know, Britain has a very powerful history, a very colonial history.
“And I think there were people in Britain who thought that France, Germany and Britain would get together at a big summit and tell the small countries what’s what.”
“That’s not the way the 21st century works, that’s certainly not the way the European Union works.”
REUTERS
Mr Varadkar also repeatedly bashed a no-Brexit, warning people “should be afraid of it”.
He added: “A no-deal Brexit would have very serious impacts on the economy north and south and in Britain, it could have security implications as well and it could have constitutional implications so it is something that we have to prepare for nonetheless, but it is something that we should be afraid of.”
https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/11009340/irish-pm-leo-varadkar-quits/