The US Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi has warned that if Brexit undermines the Good Friday Agreement there will be no chance of a US-UK trade deal being passed by Congress. 

She issued a statement on the matter following comments from US National Security Advisor John Bolton that the UK would be "front of the trade queue" for a new trade agreement with the US after Brexit

Speaker Pelosi said the Good Friday Agreement is treasured by the American people and will be fiercely defended in the US Congress.

 "Whatever form it takes, Brexit cannot be allowed to imperil the Good Friday Agreement, including the seamless border between the Irish Republic and Northern Ireland," she said.

Meanwhile, Democratic Congressman Brendan Boyle said he supported Ms Pelosi's comments adding that the statements made by John Bolton were 'nonsensical utterings'.

Read more:
EU and MPs collaborating to block Brexit - Boris Johnson
Latest Brexit headlines

We need your consent to load this rte-player contentWe use rte-player to manage extra content that can set cookies on your device and collect data about your activity. Please review their details and accept them to load the content.Manage Preferences


SDLP Leader Colum Eastwood has also welcomed Nancy Pelosi's statement.

He said: "Today's intervention from the Speaker of the US House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi marks Boris Johnson's cards. The fantasy trade deal that Brexiteers like Johnson and Farage have been salivating over will not happen if they continue on their path to a hard Brexit and a hard border in Ireland.

"Her identification of a seamless border as a key test of Brexit is now a critical objective if the new British Prime Minister wants to land what he obviously sees as his big Brexit prize. 

"A seamless border and a no-deal Brexit are mutually exclusive objectives. Boris Johnson's administration now has to recalculate its strategy and return to the cold reality that the backstop is the only show in town."