First Minister of Northern Ireland Arlene Foster Speaks to G&T on the Border Issue and More

The First Minister of Northern Ireland, Arelene Foster, has told Times Radio of the abuse she receives online, saying there is "no recourse to stop women being absued" on social media.

Speaking to Tom Newton Dunn and Gloria De Piero on G&T, the First Minister said: "I think I probably get the most abuse in Northern Ireland. And that's not something I'm particularly proud of, because of my politics, because I'm a woman in politics. And I get abuse, about my appearance, I get abuse by my politics, but I do get death threats on a quite regular basis. I have to deal with that. And as I said last week, the thing that worries me most is that this will put off young women coming forward and getting involved in politics, which of course, is a life of service and which is hugely rewarding, as you know, but has its challenges. And I think the biggest obstacle to attracting women into public life at present is the way in which social media allows the anonymity of people to be protected, and therefore there is no recourse for women who are abused."

Arlene Foster also hinted that her government may refuse to enact agri-food checks when grace periods expire under the Northern Ireland Protocol:

"What's happening at the moment is that the checks are happening between Great Britain and Northern Ireland and that needs to be stopped, and it needs to be dealt with. That's why I'm always saying to the Prime Minister that we need the replacement of the protocol and a much more sensible way to deal with the rest of the single European market. Because I think what people forget is this was the UK Government putting in place a system to protect the European single market. But actually what has happened is that there's damage happening to the Belfast agreement, which we all know, and its successor agreement, The St Andrew's Agreement, that is fundamental to the power sharing arrangement here in Northern Ireland. And it's also damaging the UK internal market. So by putting in place, a system to protect the EU single market, what we're actually doing is damage in our own country."

And asked whether Boris Johnson was simply kicking the can down the road on the Protocol until 2024, Ms Forster said:

"Well, you don't because you're gonna have to face up to it at some point. And I mean, we in Northern Ireland know that probably better than anywhere else in the United Kingdom. So he can't kick the can down the road to 2024. That's just not realistic. And as I've said, the impact and the damage to part of his own country. If he does, that would be really, really large. And I think he needs to take action, and he needs to take action quick with."