Traps in the small print of Bill

Bryson legal challenge to trade checks

THE Prime Minister is facing potential legal action over his Brexit deal’s plans for trade and regulatory checks in the Irish Sea.

Loyalist Jamie Bryson has issued a pre-action letter to Boris Johnson accusing him of creating an economic barrier between Northern Ireland and Britain.

Mr Bryson, from Co Down, asserts this threatens his right to identify as British.

The proposed withdrawal treaty will see Northern

Ireland follow single market rules on goods and act as a point of entry to the EU customs union.

Mr Bryson, below, claims the terms breach the Good Friday Agreement and threaten peace and stability.

He further alleges it contravenes his rights under the

European

Convention on Human Rights.

The letter demands that the Government withdraws its Withdrawal Agreement Bill from Parliament and takes no further steps to create a frontier in the Irish Sea.

On Monday, Mr Bryson was among loyalists who met in East Belfast to discuss their response to a deal they called the “Betrayal Act”.

His pre-action letter reads: “The applicant asserts that the measures fundamentally undermine his position with the Union and prevent him from enjoying the right to be treated equally as an equal partner with the people who reside in Great Britain.

“The applicant asserts that this threatens his right to selfidentify as British.

“Lastly, just as a hard border on the island of Ireland was seen to be a threat to peace and stability, the applicant asserts this threat also results from a hard border in the Irish Sea.”