EU’s deranged dogma

THE Northern Ireland Protocol was always a chimera, effectively leaving the Province in the single market and placing a border down the Irish Sea.

Yet despite being a deeply uncomfortable arrangement, Mr Johnson had to agree to it in 2019 to outwit a Remain-dominated parliament determined to destroy Brexit.

With sensitive implementation it might have worked. But with predictable malevolence, the EU sought to punish Britain through heavy-handed checks on goods entering the Province.

This lack of good faith has led to a surge in sectarian tensions. As a result, Mr Johnson is now threatening unilaterally to suspend the treaty – just as the EU did last year, when throwing a hissy fit over Britain’s Covid vaccine success.

If the Government does invokes Article 16, a trade war may ensue. That would be in no one’s interest.

But No10’s obligation is to preserve the fragile peace in Northern Ireland – not kowtow to the EU’s intransigent dogma.