Barry Gardiner criticised for dismissing Good Friday agreement as a “shibboleth”

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The Good Friday agreement that played a key role in the Northern Ireland peace process is a “shibboleth” being “played up” for economic interests. At least, that seems to be the stance of shadow international trade secretary Barry Gardiner.

On the 20th anniversary of the Good Friday agreement, the shadow minister’s comments revealed by website Red Roar have shocked many within the party, who may have thought such remarks were the preserve of Tories Owen Paterson and Daniel Hannan (plus Kate Hoey). We expect such views to come from the government, which after all relies on the support of the DUP, the only major political group to oppose the Belfast agreement, but not from Labour’s frontbench.

Some have noted that Owen Smith was sacked for a similar breach of collective responsibility – though there’s a crucial difference in that the former Northern Ireland secretary expressed his take on Brexit via an op-ed in the Guardian, rather than at a private meeting. Still, Gardiner’s comments appear to run contrary to Labour’s Brexit policy as it now stands.

A key reason for the shift announced by Jeremy Corbyn and Keir Starmer in February, which gave Labour’s support to a “new UK-EU customs union”, was to preserve a ‘porous’ border in Ireland. The Labour leader said as much in his speech at the time when he told us to “cherish” the peace process, paid tribute to the work of Tony Blair and Mo Mowlam in securing the agreement and confirmed Labour would “maintain the situation of no hard border in Northern Ireland”.

There will be heartfelt defences of the Good Friday agreement and real anger in the party over Gardiner’s comments. There’s also a cynical element, as a number of Corbynsceptics are rubbing their hands with glee at the thought of a Corbyn-supporting frontbencher being sacked. We’re still waiting to hear from Gardiner on the latest revelations.

Update:

Barry Gardiner has now issued an apology for his comments and has said he does not believe the Good Friday agreement is outdated.

Gardiner said: “I am deeply sorry that my informal remarks in a meeting last month have led to misunderstanding on that point – in particular, that my use of the word ‘shibboleth’ in its sense of ‘pass word’ or ‘test of membership’ gave the impression that I thought the Good Friday Agreement was in any way outdated or unimportant. I absolutely do not.”

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