UK raises stakes in EU feud with Northern Ireland threat

The British Government dramatically escalated a fight with the European Union yesterday by saying it will pass a law to scrap parts of the trade treaty signed by the two sides less than two years ago.

Britain says its move to singlehandedly change the legally binding treaty — an apparent breach of international law — is an insurance policy in case it can’t reach agreement with the bloc to end a longrunning dispute over post-Brexit trade rules. “Our preference is to reach a negotiated outcome with the EU,” Foreign Secretary Liz Truss said.

The spat raises the chances of a trade war between Britain and the bloc that is its major economic partner.

“Unilateral actions contradicting an international agreement are not acceptable,” said EU Vice-President Marosˇ Sˇefcˇovicˇ, the bloc’s top Brexit official. He said the EU “will need to respond with all measures at its disposal” if the UK goes ahead with the bill.

When Britain left the bloc and its borderless free-trade zone, a deal was agreed to keep the Irish land border free of customs posts and other checks, because an open border is a key pillar of the Northern Ireland peace process. Instead, to protect the EU’s single market, there are checks on some goods entering Northern Ireland from the rest of the UK. The arrangement is opposed by British unionists in Northern Ireland.

The Democratic Unionist Party, Northern Ireland’s biggest unionist party, is blocking the formation of a power-sharing regional government in Belfast, which should have been formed after the election this month, until the customs checks are

scrapped.