Secretary of State represents nobody here - McGuinness

The Foyle MLA was speaking yesterday as he warned that Sinn Fein will not waver from its determination that the majority vote to remain part of the European Union must be respected.

Speaking about the appointment of the new Secretary of State James Brokenshire, Mr McGuinness said:

“The last time the Secretary of State’s party stood for election here, which was only a couple of weeks ago, they got around 3,000 votes. He doesn’t represent anybody here.

“The Referendum clearly showed that Unionists, Nationalists and Republicans voted together- 56%- because we see our future in Europe. That’s a very clear message that needs to be respected.

“And there is no point in a Secretary of State coming here on the back of problems that have been visited on us by a strategy that was developed in England - effectively by the loony wing of the Tory party - which has placed all of us in this mess.”

Mr McGuinness said the new Secretary of State needs to realise and he needs to understand that the people here voted in big numbers to make it absolutely clear to him and everybody else, that “like Scotland, we see our future in Europe”,

“That cannot be disregarded and under no circumstances do we intend to backtrack from the strength of that vote,” he added.

Mr McGuinness said he had expressed similar views during telephone call with new British Prime Minister Theresa May last week.