{"id":68015,"date":"2016-02-27T00:15:07","date_gmt":"2016-02-27T00:15:07","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/?guid=dd4398be3ab3e870fae90a59e108d47c"},"modified":"2016-02-27T00:15:07","modified_gmt":"2016-02-27T00:15:07","slug":"press-release-pm-northern-ireland-is-better-off-in-a-reformed-eu","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/?p=68015","title":{"rendered":"Press release: PM: Northern Ireland is better off in a reformed EU"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"govspeak\">\n<div class=\"call-to-action\">\n<ul>\n<li>Prime Minister to visit Northern Ireland for first time since referendum called<\/li>\n<li>50,000 jobs in Northern Ireland could be linked to trade with the EU<\/li>\n<li>Prime Minister to warn that Northern Ireland\u2019s farmers need answers on alternatives to EU<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<p>Northern Ireland is better off in a reformed European Union, the Prime Minister has said ahead of his first visit to the region since the date of the EU referendum was announced.<\/p>\n<p>With more than 60% of Northern Ireland exports going to the EU, the Prime Minister today warned that leaving the single market of 500 million people would be a \u201cleap in the dark\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>And with the United Kingdom\u2019s only land border with another EU member state, he warned that access to trade and investment from the EU is particularly important for Northern Ireland.<\/p>\n<p>Speaking ahead of his visit, the Prime Minister said:<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p>I\u2019m clear that the people of Northern Ireland, and the whole UK, are better off in a reformed European Union.<\/p>\n<p class=\"last-child\">More than 60% of Northern Ireland\u2019s exports go to the EU, and around 40% of its investment comes from the EU. Putting that at risk is a leap in the dark.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>The Prime Minister also highlighted the importance of the EU to Northern Ireland\u2019s large farming sector, saying:<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p>It\u2019s vital that the voices of Northern Ireland\u2019s farmers are heard in this debate. They want security and certainty. I\u2019ve never argued the EU is perfect, but I believe a reformed Europe gives them access to a huge single market and an income that helps them keep food prices low for families.<\/p>\n<p class=\"last-child\">Those who want the UK to leave the EU need to give answers on their alternatives.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<h2 id=\"key-facts-eu-and-the-northern-ireland-economy\">Key facts: EU and the Northern Ireland economy<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>the Treasury estimates 50,000 jobs in Northern Ireland could be linked to trade with the rest of the European Union<\/li>\n<li>since 1998, the value of Northern Ireland\u2019s exports to the EU has increased by over 50% in real terms<\/li>\n<li>exports of food and livestock products and road vehicles more than trebled in real terms over the same period<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<div class=\"call-to-action\">\n<p>Find out more about <a href=\"https:\/\/www.gov.uk\/government\/publications\/the-best-of-both-worlds-the-united-kingdoms-special-status-in-a-reformed-european-union\">the UK\u2019s special status in a reformed EU<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Prime Minister said that more than 60% of Northern Ireland\u2019s exports go to the EU, and around 40% of its investment comes from the EU.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/68015"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/8"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=68015"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/68015\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=68015"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=68015"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=68015"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}