Ireland’s prime minister has said he is concerned to see the UK “disengaging from the world”, and accused it of turning inwards by leaving the EU, slashing international aid and now considering abandoning a human rights treaty.
Speaking before a bilateral meeting with Rishi Sunak in the Spanish city of Granada, Leo Varakdar said he could barely recognise the country.
Asked if he was concerned over threats made by the UK to walk away from the European convention on human rights, he replied: “I am, to be honest.”
The British home secretary, Suella Braverman, has questioned whether the convention is “fit for purpose”.
“The Britain and United Kingdom that I love and admire, it is the country of the Magna Carta, the country that founded parliamentary democracy and the country that helped to write the European convention on human rights,” Varadkar said.
“It does bother me to see the United Kingdom disengaging from the world – whether it’s reducing its budget for international aid, whether it’s leaving the European Union and now even talking about withdrawing from the European convention on human rights. That’s not the Britain I know,” he said. » | Lisa O’Carroll in Granada | Thursday, October 5, 2023
