Dominic Raab admits he hasn’t read the Good Friday agreement and no one is surprised

You would think anyone about to make decisions affecting the future of entire nations would take the time to do the required reading. But in the case of former Brexit secretary Dominic Raab, this appears not to be the case.

The MP for Esher and Walton admitted that he has not read the Good Friday Agreement all the way through while giving evidence to the Northern Ireland Affairs Committee on Wednesday.

Although one of the biggest challenges to Brexit is what to do about the border between Ireland and Northern Ireland, the former Brexit secretary justified the fact he hadn’t read the 35-page document by comparing it to a novel.

Asked by the chair Lady Sylvia Hermon if he had read the text in its entirety, Raab said:

Um, I haven’t sat down and started at the beginning and gone through it.

But of course at various points of the negotiations when issues have been raised, it has been an important opportunity to delve into the different aspects very carefully.

He added:

It’s not like a novel, you sit down and say ‘do you know what, over the holidays, this is a cracking read'.

The Good Friday Agreement, also know as The Belfast Agreement, helped to bring an end to The Troubles in Ireland after it was signed almost 20 years ago on 10 April 1998.

The international treaty established a cross-community consensus for peace and the future direction of the region after 30 years of brutal conflict between republicans and unionists.

And now the agreement plays a crucial role in shaping the terms of the Northern Ireland backstop arrangement as part of Theresa May's Brexit deal.

People on Twitter weren't exactly impressed to learn that Raab hadn't actually bothered to read the Good Friday Agreement all the way through as Brexit secretary.

Oxford University professor Dr Jennifer Cassidy even pointed out that she expects her students to read far more to prepare for a tutorial.

Always reassuring to know that government ministers have done less work than the average university student.

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