Johnson shames UK, say ex-PMs
Former British prime ministers Tony Blair and Sir John Major have accused Boris Johnson of bringing shame on the country by undermining the rule of law and jeopardising the Northern Ireland peace process.
In a joint article for The Sunday Times, the former Labour and Tory leaders describe the current British prime minister’s plans to renege on parts of the Brexit divorce deal and breach international law as ‘‘shocking’’ and claim it threatens ‘‘the very integrity of our nation’’.
‘‘As the world looks on aghast at the UK – whose word was once accepted as inviolable, this government’s action is shaming itself and embarrassing our nation,’’ they added.
Johnson is facing a growing revolt over his plans to override elements of the withdrawal agree
ment, including the Northern Ireland protocol – the part of the deal designed to prevent a hard border returning to the island of Ireland.
The UK prime minister is trying to rush through legislation after warning that Brussels was trying to use an ‘‘extreme interpretation’’ of the protocol to impose ‘‘a full-scale trade border down the Irish Sea’’ that could stop the transport of food from Britain to Northern Ireland. Downing Street insists the Internal Market Bill, which will formally be debated in the Commons for the first time tomorrow, is needed to protect the Good Friday agreement if the UK fails to secure a Brexit trade deal.
But in a joint intervention, the architects of the historic Good Friday peace agreement challenged Johnson over his commitment to the Northern Ireland peace process as they insist: ‘‘The government’s action does not protect the Good Friday agreement, it imperils it.’’ The two former prime ministers argue that Johnson’s plan puts the agreement ‘‘at risk’’ because it ‘‘negates the predictability, political stability and legal clarity which is integral to the delicate balance between the north and south of Ireland’’.
In a thinly veiled attack on
Johnson, they add: ‘‘We both opposed Brexit. We both accept it is now happening. But this way of negotiating, with reason cast aside in pursuit of ideology, and cavalier bombast posing as serious diplomacy, is irresponsible, wrong in principle and dangerous in practice.
‘‘It raises questions that go far beyond the impact on Ireland, the peace process, and negotiations for a trade deal – crucial though they are. It questions the very integrity of our nation.’’
The intervention comes as Simon Coveney, the Irish minister for foreign affairs, accused Britain of ‘‘reckless’’ behaviour. He said: ‘‘We’re calling the British government out this week on a pretty reckless new approach, in terms of threatening to breach international law and . . . the treaty that we signed a few months ago.’’
Coveney also denied Johnson’s claims that the EU was threatening to impose a ‘‘blockade’’ in the Irish Sea.
‘‘The EU is not threatening the UK, at any level,’’ he said. ‘‘The EU is simply looking to implement the withdrawal agreement that was agreed between both sides in a way that works for both sides.’’
In The Daily Telegraph yesterday, Johnson said he ‘‘never seriously believed that the EU would be willing to use a treaty, negotiated in good faith, to blockade one part of the UK, to cut it off; or that they would actually threaten to destroy the integrity of the UK. ‘‘This was for the very reason that any such barrier, any such tariffs or division would be completely contrary to the spirit of the Good Friday agreement,’’ he added. ‘‘By actively undermining the union of our country, such an interpretation would seriously endanger peace and stability in Northern Ireland.’’ – Sunday Times food