Britain will not follow EU law on common phone charger

BRITAIN will refuse to fall in line with new EU rules on a common phone charger, the Government has said.

It said yesterday it was not “currently considering” matching EU legislation which will mean a common charger for smartphones, tablets, portable speakers and eventually laptops.

That means iphone chargers will be banned in Northern Ireland but not in the rest of the UK because of the Brexit treaty that created the Irish Sea border.

The EU law means devices will have to work with a USB Type-c charger by 2024. Brussels said it would cut electronic waste by 11,000 tons annually.

The EU law will hit Apple, which has its own “lightning” connector, hardest.

It could make its smartphones in the UK compliant with EU rules, to simplify processes, or it could supply Northern Ireland with phones entirely from the EU to avoid any customs checks on the Irish Sea border.

UK-EU tensions are rising ahead of the expected publication of legislation to unilaterally override parts of the Northern Ireland Protocol. Brussels has warned this would break international law and risk a trade war.

The Government insists the Bill is legal, despite reports one of its senior legal advisors has warned it would breach international law.

Micheál Martin, the Taoiseach, said yesterday that tearing up the Protocol would be “deeply damaging”.

Doug Beattie, the Ulster Unionist leader, claimed that tensions in Northern Ireland over the Protocol could escalate into violence this summer.