Brexit deal never made sense, PM to tell EU

Johnson will say Withdrawal Agreement is ‘contradictory’ regarding Northern Ireland

THE Brexit divorce deal is “contradictory” and must be rewritten to protect the Union, Boris Johnson will make clear to EU leaders today.

The Prime Minister believes the Withdrawal Agreement is legally ambiguous and would leave Northern Ireland isolated from the rest of the UK, something that was “unforeseen” when he agreed to it last year.

Michel Barnier, the EU’S chief Brexit negotiator, arrives in London this morning for the latest round of formal trade talks after Mr Johnson said he “will not back down” over his plan to change the terms of the Withdrawal Agreement through legislation being tabled tomorrow.

The move has triggered a major row between London and Brussels, with Ursula von der Leyen, the European Commission president, saying the issue was a matter of “trust”.

She threatened not to do business with Britain in future if the Government refused to abide by the terms of the Withdrawal Agreement, which Brussels insisted was legally binding.

Mr Barnier said that honouring the Agreement was a “pre-condition” for progress in the trade deal negotiations this week, while critics of Mr Johnson accused him of wanting to force a “no trade deal” exit at the end of the year.

Lord Frost, the UK’S lead negotiator, will tell Mr Barnier it is time for the EU to recognise the “reality” that Britain is a sovereign state, free to set its own laws. He will also “drive home our clear message that we must make progress this week if we are to reach an agreement in time”.

Downing Street insisted it merely wanted to “clarify” parts of the agreement to protect the interests of Northern Ireland and the peace process, as a “safety net” in case no trade deal was agreed, and said that a deal was still the Government’s objective.

A No10 spokesman left little doubt yesterday that Mr Johnson did not believe the Withdrawal Agreement, originally negotiated by Theresa May, made sense, as the UK internal market and the peace process would be “compromised by unintended consequences” if it was not amended.

Mr Johnson renegotiated parts of the Northern Ireland Protocol – removing the so-called backstop – before agreeing terms of Britain’s exit from the EU last October. But a senior government source said some of the consequences “were not foreseen” at the time.

The current legal default is that after Dec 31 all goods passing from mainland Britain to Northern Ireland would be subject to customs checks and tariffs, that businesses in Northern Ireland would have to fill in customs declarations for goods being sold to the mainland, and that EU rules on state aid could be applied to mainland companies selling goods in Northern Ireland.

A senior Government source said: “The protocol is contradictory in some respects – it talks about protecting the EU single market but also giving Northern Ireland unfettered access to the UK market. You can’t have both.

“Without a trade deal, all goods passing from the mainland to Northern Ireland would be subject to tariffs, because they would be classed as being ‘at risk’ of being sold on to the EU market. Even though traders could later claim back the money by proving the goods didn’t leave the UK, the administrative costs would be considerable.”

Mrs von der Leyen warned that there could be no backtracking by the UK on

its previous commitments if it wanted to reach a free-trade agreement.

She said: “I trust the British Government to implement the Withdrawal Agreement, an obligation under international law and prerequisite for any future partnership.”

Leaked diplomatic cables sent to EU capitals from Brussels in recent days accuse Mr Johnson of dithering on issues such as fisheries, state aid and dispute resolution during negotiations in order to achieve a “trade-off” at the eleventh hour.

A commission official has told EU diplomats these points can’t be ironed out with a simple phone call, saying “it is leaving it too late”, according to The Guardian.

In a letter to Tory supporters, Mr Johnson said “I will not back down” and that he still hoped for a trade deal.

He also met Emmanuel Macron yesterday, and is understood to have reassured the French president the changes were limited and technical, and that he would honour commitments made when the deal was agreed last year.

But Lord Frost said last night: “We have been talking for six months and can no longer afford to go over welltrodden ground. We need to see more realism from the EU about our status as an independent country… we have repeatedly made clear that key elements of our position derive from the fundamentals of being a sovereign state, and it’s time for the EU to recognise this.

“If they can’t do that in the very limited time we have left, then we will be trading on terms like those the EU has with Australia, and we are ramping up our preparations for the end of the year.”