Attorney General in row over ‘EU Irish Sea border’
THE UK Attorney General has been mocked for claiming the EU created a border in the Irish Sea.
Suella Braverman stunned audiencesbyinaccuratelystating checks of goods between Northern Ireland and Great Britain were caused by the political formation.
They are in fact part of the Northern Ireland protocol, signedinconjunctionwithBoris Johnson’s Brexit deal.
Speaking on Question Time, Ms Braverman said: ‘What is undeniable and what is clear is that there are problems, in Northern Ireland, caused by the EU’s interpretation and application of the protocol. We’ve got a border erected down the middle of our country. A border which applies checks, applies costs, and extra bureaucracy. ‘It’s unthinkable.’
The MP for Fareham received a huge backlash regarding her comments on social media.
@PlanetZuma on Twitter said: ‘Suella Braverman has literally become a joke.
‘When people stop moaning at politicians and start laughing in their faces, you know their time is nearly up.’
Other replies to a video debunking her views on the protocol were just as damning.
@Fizzielou said: ‘No one in this benighted government would know what the truth was if it sat on them.’
@ifill_james added: ‘It’s like signing up for a mortgage but calling the bank unreasonable because they charged interest on your loan.
‘The government has NO LEG TO STAND ON.’
Given the border between the two countries, the MP for Fareham did not deny reports she has approved the scrapping of large parts of the deal – using emergency legislation.
European leaders have warned the UK not to make the incendiary move, amid fears it could provoke a trade war with Britain’s largest trading partner.
Ministers have been increasingly hinting they could take unilateral action, with Boris Johnson arguing the Good Friday Agreement is more important than the protocol he signed up to.
Mr Johnson said a new executive in Northern Ireland could not be formed under the rules set out in the 1998 peace agreement without changes to the protocol.
The Democratic Unionist Party is refusing to enter an administration without significant changes to the protocol designed to prevent a hard border with the Republic.