THE Good Friday Agreement "is as robust as it has always been", an ex-Gwent MP has said.

Lord Murphy, who was Torfaen MP from 1987 until 2015, during which time he served as Northern Ireland Secretary and was key in the development of the historic peace agreement, has previously warned against Brexit compromising any element of the deal.

But, speaking in the House of Lords last week, the Labour peer said he did not believe leaving the European Union would lead to the collapse of the agreement.

"Can the agreement actually survive Brexit? Of course it can," he said.

"I have not the slightest doubt that the Good Friday Agreement is as robust as it has always been.

"It has been challenged, but it will survive.

"The basic principles that underlie it of consent, parity of esteem and the other issues that we discussed during the lead-up to the Good Friday Agreement have not changed.

"After all, people in the north and south of the island of Ireland voted for it and I have absolute confidence that, were there to be another referendum on the terms of the Good Friday Agreement, north and south would vote for it again."

Lord Murphy said by far the greatest threat to the agreement was the lack of Northern Ireland government. The country has been without a devolved administration since its government collapsed in January 2017 after a power-sharing deal broke down.

But he added the risk of a 'hard border' being re-established between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland as a result of Brexit also posed a risk.

"Putting that apparatus back up would create a huge security problem, as would the absence of the European arrest warrant and the fact that we would no longer be members jointly of Europol and Eurojust," he said. "All of those things will make it more difficult to catch criminals who flee to either side of the border."