LEO VARADKAR has warned politicians around the world not to make agreements with the British government until they prove themselves to be trustworthy.
The Tánaiste was speaking after UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson's exiled former aide Dominic Cummings suggested the British government always planned to "ditch" the Northern Ireland Protocol - a decision which caused a huge rift between the British and Irish governments.
Mr Varadkar responded to the "alarming" comments by urging other nations not to make agreements with Britain until they demonstrate that they can keep their promises.
"I saw those comments; I hope Dominic Cummings is speaking for himself and not for the British government," Varadkar told RTÉ's Morning Ireland.
"But those comments are very alarming because that would indicate that this is a government, an administration, that acted in bad faith and that message needs to be heard around the world.
"If the British government doesn’t honour its agreements, it doesn’t adhere to treaties it signs, that must apply to everyone else too.
"At the moment, they’re going around the world, they’re trying to negotiate new trade agreements… Surely the message must go out to all countries around the world that this is a British government that doesn’t necessarily keep its word and doesn’t necessarily honour the agreements it makes.
"And you shouldn’t make any agreements with them until such time as you’re confident that they keep their promises, and honour things, for example, like the protocol."
On 4 October 2021, the UK government issued a veiled threat to ditch the Northern Ireland protocol warning it "cannot wait for ever" for the EU to respond to its demands to rewrite the Protocol.
The Brexit minister, David Frost warned the EU that it must come back with 'ambitious' proposals to renegotiate the protocol.
On 7 October, the EU responded, urging the UK to drop the "political rhetoric", saying that they the bloc would make "far-reaching proposals" to break the impasse.
