PM warned over NI Protocol plan
BORIS Johnson insisted a plan to effectively override parts of the Brexit deal with Brussels was “not a big deal” as he was warned the move would “deeply damage” relations with the European Union and Ireland.
The Bill to amend the Northern Ireland Protocol unilaterally was introduced in Parliament on Monday amid controversy over whether the legislation breaks international law.
Ireland’s Foreign Affairs Minister Simon Coveney said the plan would “ratchet up” tension and breach the UK’s international commitments.
But Mr Johnson insisted the legislation would introduce “relatively simple” bureaucratic changes and warned it would be a “gross overreaction” if Brussels sought to retaliate by triggering a trade war.
The European Union is keeping its options open on how to respond to any move by the UK Government to rip up parts of the agreement signed by Mr Johnson on Northern Ireland’s post-Brexit trading arrangements.
Irish premier Micheal Martin said it is regrettable that the UK is to renege on an international treaty.
Mr Martin also rejected assertions by the British Government that the EU has not been flexible during negotiations.
“It’s very regrettable for a country like the UK to renege on an international treaty,” he said.
“I think it represents a new low point, because the natural expectation of democratic countries like ourselves, the UK and all across Europe, is that we honour international agreements that we enter into.
“This agreement was ratified by British Parliament, it was approved by the British Prime Minister.
“I’ve had this discussion with him and, in our view, the only way to resolve issues around the operation of the protocol is to have substantive negotiations between the UK and the EU.
“We do not accept the presentation by the British Government and certain ministers to the effect that the EU is inflexible.”
He called on the British Government to enter into negotiations and discussions to resolve the issues.
Mr Coveney used a Twitter post to suggest the UK was seeking to “deliberately ratchet up tension with an EU seeking compromise”.
In an interview with LBC Radio yesterday, Mr Johnson said: “We have to understand there are two traditions in Northern Ireland, broadly two ways of looking at the border issues. One community at the moment feels very, very estranged from the way things are operating and very alienated.
“We have just got to fix that. It is relatively simple to do it, it’s a bureaucratic change that needs to be made.
“Frankly, it’s a relatively trivial set of adjustments in the grand scheme of things.”