Boris Johnson faces fresh Brexit clash with judges

UK PM Boris Johnson is gearing up for a second explosive confrontation with Parliament and the courts over Brexit as he demands a new deal with the EU which would free Northern Ireland from the oversight of European judges.

Downing Street is preparing for a major clash with the House of Lords and Supreme Court as soon as next month, with senior officials drawing up plans to unilaterally suspend swathes of the Northern Ireland Protocol if Brussels refuses to make "significant changes" to the current deal. The Telegraph understands that Lord Frost, the Cabinet Office minister, will make it clear to his EU counterpart that removing European Court of Justice (ECJ) oversight of the Protocol is a "red line" for Britain.

In a speech this week, he will warn that "no one should be in any doubt about the seriousness of the situation", adding: "The commission have been too quick to dismiss governance as a side issue. The reality is the opposite." Lord Frost will unveil "a new legal text" reflecting the UK's proposals. In a bid to reinforce Britain's sovereign status outside the EU, he is expected to insist that the proposed new Protocol should form part of the recent UK-EU trade agreement, unlike the current version which sits within the withdrawal deal signed as the UK quit the bloc.

The disclosures came as a senior minister claimed the EU's rigid approach over Northern Ireland was being heavily influenced by an "anti-Brexit" and "antiBritish" French regime.

The minister claimed Emmanuel Macron's hostility towards Brexit and Britain, rather than genuine concern about the goods trade on the island of

Ireland threatening the EU's single market, was behind France's hard line on Northern Ireland.

This week, Maros Sefcovic, the European Commission vice president, will set out the EU's response to the UK's demands, with claims on Saturday that the proposals would be "substantive and far-reaching".

However, a concession allowing "national identity goods" such as sausages to enter Northern Ireland despite EU rules restricting chilled meats from non-EU countries - was dismissed by UK sources as only addressing a "tiny" part of the problem.

In the event that the EU refuses "significant changes" both to remove trade barriers between Britain and Northern Ireland and eliminate the role of the ECJ, Number 10 is planning to trigger Article 16 of the Protocol in order to unilaterally suspend parts of the agreement.