- Title: U.S. House Speaker Pelosi cautions Britain over N.Irish peace deal
- Date: 17th September 2021
- Summary: LONDON, ENGLAND, UNITED KINGDOM (SEPTEMBER 17, 2021) (REUTERS) U.S. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES SPEAKER NANCY PELOSI WALKING ONTO STAGE AT CHATHAM HOUSE / SITTING WITH HOST (SOUNDBITE) (English) U.S. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES SPEAKER, NANCY PELOSI, SAYING: "This is not said as any threat, it's said as a prediction: If there is the destruction of the Good Friday accords, they [are] very unlikely to have a UK-U.S. bilateral. We have to have a path that includes it. Now, our ambassador has made the UK position very clear to us about the complexity of the negotiation, so let's just... And by the way, I have to say the leadership in Ireland is very sympathetic to 'let's work this out' - nobody's declaring one thing or another, but you asked, yeah it would be problematic in terms of a bilateral." HOST TAKING QUESTION FROM THE AUDIENCE (SOUNDBITE) (English) U.S. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES SPEAKER, NANCY PELOSI, SAYING: "He (former U.S. President Donald Trump) put tariffs on the EU. I said 'what'. I mean, I'm usually not surprised but that was mysterious. That was mysterious. What a minute, we're supposed to be collaborating and for some reason, he put those. Now, we have to address how we transition out of those but I would - perhaps it's viewed differently on either side of the Atlantic - but in our country, there has never been any diminution of respect, the value of the U.S.-UK relationship. The trade thing is, as I mentioned without going into it again, we will probably end up there, but we have a path that has to come through. The EU recognising the importance of the Good Friday accords." VARIOUS OF PELOSI ON STAGE LISTENING TO QUESTION FROM HOST (SOUNDBITE) (English) U.S. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES SPEAKER, NANCY PELOSI, SAYING: "Well I would say to my Republican friends - and I do have some - 'take back your party'. The Republican party, the grand old party, has made tremendous contributions to our country, founded by Lincoln, but over the years tremendous contributions to our country. Don't let your party be hijacked by a cult, essentially that is what is happening, and it isn't good for the country. We obviously want the Democrats to be pre-eminent but that's secondary to the fact that we need to have strong representation across the board in our country." PELOSI LISTENING TO QUESTION BY HOST (SOUNDBITE) (English) U.S. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES SPEAKER, NANCY PELOSI, SAYING: "They're off the spectrum. This is not conservative - which is of course more than a legitimate position to hold, this is radical, right-wing, of the spectrum, anti-governance and if you're anti-governance it's very hard to govern. Now we still have an obligation to try with as much bipartisanship as we can, with transparency so people can see what is happening and with accountability, so how do we work together to do that." PELOSI LISTENING TO QUESTION FROM THE AUDIENCE (SOUNDBITE) (English) U.S. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES SPEAKER, NANCY PELOSI, SAYING: "But I can say in America, capitalism is our system, it is our economic system but it has not served our economy as well as it should and so what we want to do is not depart from that but to improve it." PELOSI LISTENING TO QUESTION (SOUNDBITE) (English) U.S. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES SPEAKER, NANCY PELOSI, SAYING: "Without going into the history, just going into the current president (of China), very repressive, a genocide going on in terms of the Uyghurs; suppression of democracy in Hong Kong, not keeping the promises of the basic law and the rest, the agreement; threats to Taiwan and even using how the name is used and the rest, very, not that that matters as much as what it indicates in terms of the threat; the aggression in the South China Sea, all of these things (are) problematic." PERSON IN AUDIENCE ASKING QUESTION (SOUNDBITE) (English) U.S. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES SPEAKER, NANCY PELOSI, SAYING: "So we have to always point out what our disagreement is objected to it, as well as at the same time understand that we have to reckon with China because of size and impact on everyone we talk about." HOST CONCLUDING REMARKS PELOSI LISTENING TO HOST / AUDIENCE APPLAUDING
- Embargoed: 1st October 2021 11:06
- Keywords: Chatham House Congress Nancy Pelosi Pelosi London U.S. politics speaker of the house state of America
- Location: LONDON, ENGLAND, UNITED KINGDOM
- City: LONDON, ENGLAND, UNITED KINGDOM
- Country: United Kingdom
- Topics: Diplomacy/Foreign Policy,Europe,Government/Politics
- Reuters ID: LVA001EV3XNIF
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi cautioned Britain on Friday (September 17) that if the Northern Irish peace deal was destroyed then there would be no post-Brexit trade deal with the United States.
The United States has expressed grave concern that a row between London and Brussels over the implementation of the 2020 Brexit treaty could undermine the Good Friday accord, which effectively ended three decades of violence.
"This is not said as any threat, it's said as a prediction: If there is the destruction of the Good Friday accords, they [are] very unlikely to have a UK-U.S. bilateral," she told a Chatham House event.
After the United Kingdom exited the bloc's orbit on Jan. 1, Johnson has unilaterally delayed the implementation of some provisions of the deal's Northern Ireland Protocol and his top negotiator has said the protocol is unsustainable.
Pelosi also said that capitalism has not served the U.S. economy as well as it could have.
"In America, capitalism is our system, it is our economic system, but it has not served our economy as well as it should," she said.
The country needed to improve the system and a strong middle class was a key part of a strong democracy, she said.
On China, Pelosi said the U.S. has to point out disagreements with China but also reckon with the country due to its size and relevance on issues such as climate change.
The speaker also made comments about the state of the Republican party, urging its members to "take back your party", describing it as being "hijacked" by right-wing radicals.
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