PM: Brussels wants to break up the UK
Boris defends ‘law breaking’ in a defiant address to MPs
‘Must not go back to squabbling’
The Prime Minister last night accused Brussels of trying to break up the UK as he defended controversial legislation that will overrule parts of his own Brexit deal.
In an uncompromising address via video link, Boris Johnson told MPs he would not drop the Internal Market Bill, which will override parts of the Northern Ireland Protocol – known as the backstop.
he said the new law was needed to ‘prevent a foreign power from breaking up our country’. The legislation sparked uproar when Northern Ireland Secretary Brandon Lewis stunned MPs on Tuesday by admitting it would ‘break international law in a very specific and limited way’.
On Thursday, the european Commission said it would launch legal action against the UK unless the relevant clauses in the legislation are dropped by the end of this month.
Last night, the european Parliament said it would block any trade deal agreed with the UK unless the ‘Irish backstop’ – designed to avoid a hard border in Ireland – was respected in full.
Mr Johnson is also facing the prospect of a significant Tory rebellion next week when MPs will be asked to vote on the Bill.
But, in an address to around 250 MPs last night, the PM urged the party to ‘show resolve’ and back the new law, which will be debated by MPs on Monday. In an appeal for unity, he added: ‘We must not go back to the miserable, squabbling days of last autumn.’
The PM said there was now a ‘stark’ difference of opinion between the UK and the EU over the interpretation of the Irish backstop that threatened to drive a wedge between Northern Ireland and the rest of the UK.
he said the ‘difficulty’ is that if the UK doesn’t agree to the EU’s, ‘interpretation of what the checks would be,’ then, if there were no agreement, ‘there should be nothing short of an economic barrier down the Irish Sea with tariffs’.
Mr Johnson added: ‘So what we need to do is clear up what I think is a serious anomaly in the protocol and put a safety net under it. What we can’t have is the threat of a border down the Irish Sea and the threat of the break-up of the United Kingdom.’
Justice Secretary Robert Buckland, who has faced calls to quit over the issue, is said to be interested in exploring the idea of some kind of ‘lock’ on the process which would have to activated before the Government breached the Withdrawal Agreement.
But Downing Street sources last night dismissed the idea of a compromise, saying the PM ‘feels very strongly’ the controversial parts of the Bill are needed.
The Bill will ensure firms in Northern Ireland do not have to file export declarations when they send goods to the UK.
The new legislation would also ensure the EU cannot charge tariffs on British goods sent to Northern Ireland unless ministers are satisfied they are destined for the Republic of Ireland.
Senior Conservative backbencher Sir Bob Neill, who chairs the Commons Justice Committee, is tabling an amendment to the Bill which he said would impose a ‘parliamentary lock’ on any changes to the Withdrawal Agreement. Among its supporters are Theresa May’s former deputy, Damian Green.