Scottish Daily Mail

Peers to hold up changes to NI protocol

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ANTI-BREXIT peers have warned Boris Johnson they will hinder legislatio­n to over-ride parts of the Northern Ireland protocol.

Ken Clarke, right, said a controvers­ial Bill to be unveiled by ministers early next week will be ‘seriously challenged’ in the Lords.

The Tory former chancellor, a strong supporter of the EU, expects a ‘very large majority’ of peers will ‘hold it up for a considerab­le time’.

As part of Brexit negotiatio­ns, the UK and EU agreed to the Northern Ireland protocol, which is designed to avoid the need for a border on the island of Ireland. But this has led to disruption to goods crossing the Irish Sea.

The British Government intends to use domestic law to unilateral­ly over-ride aspects of the post-Brexit arrangemen­ts to reduce the checks required. Foreign Secretary Liz Truss is expected to publish the legislatio­n next week. Downing Street said it remained ‘confident’ the Bill ‘is lawful under internatio­nal law’.

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