Johnson: EU a threat to integrity of the UK

Prime Minister accuses Brussels of trying to impose blockade across the Irish Sea

BORIS JOHNSON has accused the European Union of threatening to impose a food “blockade” in the Irish Sea that would destroy the “economic and territorial integrity of the UK”.

Writing in today’s Daily Telegraph, the Prime Minister makes a passionate defence of his decision to alter the Brexit divorce deal, saying he has to protect Britain from the “disaster” of handing Brussels the “power to carve up our country”.

He also issues a direct plea to Tory MPS threatening to rebel over his plans, telling them that if they stand in his way they will reduce the chance of getting a trade deal with the EU.

Mr Johnson insists a Canada-style trade deal with the EU is still possible and remains his goal, but that Brussels must “take their threats off the table” and rebel MPS must get into line. He also believes the country will still “prosper mightily” under a narrower, Australia-style trade deal.

The Prime Minister claims the EU could effectively impose a food blockade across the Irish Sea by refusing to grant the UK approved “third party” status for food exports, which officials say Michel Barnier, the EU’S chief negotiator, has “explicitly” threatened.

The Withdrawal Agreement gives the EU oversight over goods of animal origin being transported from the mainland to Northern Ireland for four years, meaning Brussels could use an “extreme interpretation” to impose tariffs or declare such trade illegal.

Last night Mr Johnson addressed Tory MPS in a video conference, telling them he wanted to “clear up a serious anomaly” in the agreement. The Government

is trying to rush through legislation that would amend the Withdrawal Agreement and in particular its Northern Ireland protocol.

The Prime Minister argues he has been forced to act because of a “serious misunderstanding” in Brussels about the terms of the agreement, and must unilaterally make changes to it because it has become a “danger to the very fabric of the United Kingdom”.

The EU has told Mr Johnson that unless he backtracks by the end of the month, the trade talks are over. Some senior Conservatives have expressed outrage after ministers admitted the move would break international law, and MEPS said yesterday they would refuse to ratify any trade deal if Mr Johnson’s Internal Market Bill passed.

But Mr Johnson has come out fighting, using his article today to warn off the EU and the rebels within his party.

He writes: “Unless we agree to the EU’S terms, the EU will use an extreme interpretation of the Northern Ireland protocol to impose a full-scale trade border down the Irish Sea. We are being told that the EU will not only impose tariffs on goods moving from Great Britain to Northern Ireland, but that they might actually stop the transport of food products from GB to NI.

“I have to say that we never seriously believed that the EU would be willing to use a treaty, negotiated in good faith, to blockade one part of the UK, to cut it off; or that they would actually threaten to destroy the economic and territorial integrity of the UK.” The Prime Minister says that any such barrier would

be “completely contrary to the letter and the spirit of the Good Friday agreement” because undermining the Union “would seriously endanger peace and stability in Northern Ireland”.

Downing Street argues that the EU’S interpretation of the Withdrawal Agreement would give it the power to interfere in the UK state aid regime and to decide which goods crossing the Irish Sea should be subject to checks.

Mr Johnson told MPS his Bill would ensure that goods crossing the Irish Sea were not subject to unnecessary checks or tariffs.

Yesterday a group of more than a dozen MPS, among them former ministers, signalled that they would press ahead with attempts to bar the Government from overriding the Withdrawal Agreement without the support of Parliament. They intend to defy the whip and back an amendment tabled by Sir

Bob Neill, chairman of the Commons jus- tice committee, who has already secured the backing of Damian Green, Theresa May’s former deputy, and Sir Oliver Heald, the former solicitor general.

Mel Stride, a former Treasury minister, said he would be surprised if the legislation survived without “very significant amendment”, adding: “When we have a minister standing up at the despatch box saying we will be prepared to break an international treaty, that is a moment when you hold your breath a bit.”

The scale of criticism is believed to have alarmed No 10 and forced the Whips’ Office to begin contacting MPS deemed “at risk” of rebelling.

However, British officials yesterday dismissed threats by Brussels to walk away from trade talks, with a senior figure stating that there had been “more productive” discussions this week than in previous sessions.