Shailesh Vara’s Northern Ireland and Great Britain blunder in 2018
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During the BBC interview recorded back in 2018, Shailesh Vara can be heard referring to Northern Ireland being a part of “Great Britain.” Northern Ireland is part of the United Kingdom but is geographically separate from the island of Great Britain which is made up of England, Wales and Scotland. The blunder did not go missed by political watchers who reshared the clip online shortly after the Conservative MP’s appointment to his new Cabinet role.
Mr Vara told BBC News in 2018: “I think it’s important to remember that Northern Ireland is part of Great Britain by virtue of the principle of consent.”
He was appointed as Northern Ireland Secretary on Thursday following the resignation of Brandon Lewis.
The former NIO minister was announced amid chaos at Downing Street as the number of resignations stacked up in protest at Boris Johnson’s government.
Mr Johnson is set to remain as Prime Minister until a successor is in place, expected to be by the time of the Conservative Party conference in October.
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This is despite critics suggesting he should not be allowed to stay in office until the autumn.
Mr Vara said it was a “huge privilege to return to the Northern Ireland Office as Secretary of State”.
“Having served previously in the department I recognise the immense contribution of Northern Ireland, and its people, to the UK and I look forward to representing those interests at the Cabinet table,” he said.
In response to Mr Vara’s appointment, the Twitter account @BestforBritainNew shared the unearthed BBC interview, with the caption: “NI Secretary doesn’t know that NI is not in GB???”
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Twitter users suggested below the video that the new Northern Ireland Secretary should “get a geography lesson.”
A person with the handle @paulden2310 wrote: “What a great start for his new job!”
Elsewhere another user @Yadda16 commented: “It’s literally called Great Britain and Northern Ireland (constituent country of the United Kingdom) surely minimum knowledge required for new NI Secretary.”
The previous Northern Ireland Secretary announced his resignation early on Thursday, tweeting a copy of his resignation letter in which Mr Lewis told the Prime Minister that he had “given you, and those around you, the benefit of the doubt”.
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“We are, however, now past the point of no return.
“I cannot sacrifice my personal integrity to defend things as they stand now.”
“It is clear that our Party, parliamentary colleagues, volunteers and the whole country, deserve better,” he added.
NIO minister Conor Burns indicated he will remain in post, tweeting that he will lead for the government at a meeting of the British-Irish Council.
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