Minister insists threats will fail
THE UK will not be deterred from taking action to maintain political stability in Northern Ireland by “irresponsible” threats of a trade war with the European Union, Business Secretary Kwasi Kwarteng has said.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson is due to travel to Belfast today for crisis talks in the city with political parties, amid continuing political deadlock over the Northern Ireland Protocol.
EU leaders have warned of retaliatory measures if the UK acts unilaterally to suspend or change the agreement, which governs postBrexit trading arrangements, in the face of Unionist opposition.
The Republic of Ireland’s Foreign Minister, Simon Coveney, insisted the EU did not want a trade war at a time of heightened tensions, but said there would be a “consequence” if the UK abandoned its international treaty obligations.
Mr Kwarteng said that under Article 16 of the protocol – which forms part of the UK’s Withdrawal Agreement with the EU – the Government was entitled to act unilaterally to protect political stability.
“There has been a lot of talk, a lot of threats, about what the EU will or won’t do. That is up to them,” he told BBC One’s Sunday Morning programme.
“As far as I am concerned, our primary duty as the British government is to look after political stability in Northern Ireland. If that means relooking at the protocol, we absolutely have to do that.
“I think this talk of a trade war is irresponsible and I think it is completely getting ahead of ourselves. It is up to the EU. We think it would be completely self-defeating if they went into a trade war, but that is up to them.”
Months of simmering tensions over the protocol appear to be coming to a head, after the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) refused to enter a power-sharing Executive with Sinn Fein following the May 5 Assembly elections, unless there are fundamental changes.
The DUP is demanding an end to customs checks on goods moving from Great Britain to Northern Ireland – in order to keep an open border with the Republic – warning they are hurting business and undermining Northern Ireland’s position in the UK.
Mr Coveney expressed alarm at reports the UK Government could introduce legislation as early as this week to impose its own arrangements, after the latest talks between Foreign Secretary Liz Truss and European Commission vice-president Maros Sefcovic failed to reach an agreement.
He said such a move would be “deeply harmful” to UK-Ireland relations and could “fundamentally undermine” the functioning of the institutions of the peace process in Northern Ireland.
“Everybody understands if the British Government decides to set aside international law to create significant uncertainty on the island of Ireland in terms of single market membership, and a whole range of other things... of course there’s a consequence, the EU is forced to respond, but that is not where we want to be,” Mr Coveney said.