A Conservative Party MP has suggested using the prospect of food shortages to force Ireland to capitulate on the Brexit ‘backstop’ deal for Northern Ireland — and Twitter has let loose with some lessons from history.
In a British government report, leaked to the Times of London, MP Priti Patel suggested that potential food shortages in the event of a ‘no deal’ Brexit should have been used as leverage to force Ireland to give up the ‘backstop’ — an agreed guarantee that there will be no hard border imposed between Ireland and Northern Ireland. If the food issue had been pressed, Patel says, Britain could have gone back to Brussels to “get a better deal.”
Given the history between the two islands, which involved a famine that killed a million people and which many Irish regard as genocide by Britain, it didn’t go down well when Patel suggested using food as a weapon in Brexit negotiations.
Unsurprisingly, Patel was swiftly bashed on Twitter for “profound ignorance” of history.
In Ireland we don't refer to it as the "potato famine". The Famine was a result not only of potato blight but also because an imperialist landlord class & govt. chose to let people die. Fast forward to 2018 & we've Priti Patel suggesting food blockades against Ireland. Classy.