Richard Boyd Barrett: Accuses EU and Government of Double Standards
Richard Boyd Barrett criticised what he called the inconsistency, hypocrisy and double standards of the European Union and his own government on foreign policy, contrasting responses to Russia, the United States under Donald Trump, Israel and Iran. He condemned Putin, Donald Trump and the Israeli government while demanding consistent principles, defending Iranian protesters' right to determine their future.
Main critique
Richard Boyd Barrett told colleagues he had told Ursula von der Leyen in 2024 that the inconsistency, hypocrisy and double standards of the EU and, by and large, his own government on foreign policy were "absolutely stunning, shocking and unacceptable." He agreed that Putin is imperialist in denying self-determination to Ukraine but argued similar standards are not applied uniformly.
Comparison of US and Russian actions
He contrasted strong language about Russia with what he described as silence over Donald Trump’s national security posture - including threats over Greenland, claims over a Monroe Doctrine for the Americas, and interventions in Venezuela. He said Trump "has no right" to militarily intervene, to kidnap a president and his wife, or to kill hundreds in the process, and called Trump’s behaviour hypocritical.
Gaza, Israel and arms supplies
Boyd Barrett accused the US and leading EU states of continuing to arm Israel amid what he called a genocidal massacre in Gaza. He criticised the government for failing to impose sanctions on Israel and for hesitancy over the Occupied Territories Bill while partners continue to provide weapons and deny aid into Gaza.
On Iran and protesters
He condemned the Iranian government's killings of protesters and the media and social media blackouts, saying those actions should be stopped and reforms engaged with. At the same time he rejected Trump’s threats against Iran, insisted the people of Iran should decide their own future and said he stood with the protesters.
Conclusion and government criticism
Throughout the speech he accused the European Union and his government of tolerating or reinforcing double standards - condemning some actors while ignoring or arming others - and said it was disgraceful that the government continued to give cover to that hypocrisy.
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As I said to Ursula von der Leyen when she came to this chamber back in 2024, the inconsistency, the hypocrisy and the double standards of the European Union, and by and large by our own government when it comes to foreign policy, are absolutely stunning. Stunning, shocking and unacceptable. The government opens, as is often the case, and understandably, its statement with reference to Ukraine. And rightly says that Putin is not interested in peace, he's an imperialist, it's a brutal, illegal and aggressive war. That it's imperialist. I've heard the Taoiseach describe Putin as imperialist. Absolutely right. Because Putin believes he has the right to a sphere of influence around Russia, which he has no right to, and consequently denies the right of self-determination. But when Donald Trump and his administration produce a national security strategy that says they have the right to decide what happens in the whole of South America, in Canada, and in Greenland, silence. Silence from the European Union. Trump goes in then, and whatever you may think about Maduro, and I don't think much, it was an authoritarian and corrupt regime, but Donald Trump has no right to go in and militarily attack it, and to kidnap its president and his wife and kill hundreds of people in the process. He has no right whatsoever to Greenland, to threaten it, to talk about the easy way or the hard way. He has no right to threaten, as he has done Cuba, Mexico, and so on, and impose an American sphere of influence. And he's asserting explicitly in a document about the Monroe Doctrine applying to the whole of the American continent. Right? Silence from the same people who get up and describe as unacceptable what Putin is doing, which, by the way, it is. And, of course, a failure to call out the continuing arming by Trump, by America, and by leading EU states of the genocidal massacre that continues against the people of Gaza and Palestine. And Donald Trump, just to rub salt into the horrific wounds, invites Netanyahu over for New Year celebrations in his mansion. I mean, this man is evil. He's evil. Putin is evil. Trump is evil. But do the European government apply the same principles and standards to these two people? Not at all. Not at all. They continue to tolerate it and quiet it, or worse, reinforce it. Reinforce the hypocrisy. Fail to condemn the shocking fact that Germany, Britain, France continue to provide weapons and so on to the Israeli regime, which is guilty of genocide, which continues to deny aid to get into Gaza, and at the same time that the government, and I'll get on to Iran in a second, calls for escalating sanctions against Iran, simultaneously say, oh, we have to dilute the Occupied Territories Bill, we're not sure if we can include services in it, we're not quite sure when we'll pass it, two years into a genocidal massacre, when Israel's government and so on in the dock for crimes against humanity and for genocide, still no sanctions. And worse, your partners in Europe continue to arm the regime that is committing this. But apparently, you're horrified about the actions of the Iranian government. Now, I condemn absolutely the killings by the Iranian government of protesters protesting about the cost of living, about corruption, about repression in Iran. They should be condemned, they should stop killing protesters, and they should engage with people fighting to reform that country, and they should end the media blackout, and social media blackout is a disgrace, right? But it is also equally clear that Trump has no role. Trump's military threats against Iran, when he's threatening Greenland, when he's attacking Venezuela, when he's arming the genocide in Gaza, he has no part to play in Iran. He's a hypocrite who's only interested in oil, in influence, and indeed he's killing protesters in his own country, when he defended the assassination of a mother of three, who was driving away from an ICE officer with paramilitaries running around, arresting people in cities, and actually nearly provoking a civil war in his own country. Right? So he has no role to play in Iran. The people of Iran should decide their own future. I stand with the protesters there. But the hypocrisy of European Union and Trump is absolutely stunning, and it is disgraceful our government continues to give cover to it.
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