Boris Johnson risks breaking international law by ripping up Northern Ireland protocol
dailyrecord.co.ukBoris Johnson’s government has been warned that it risks breaking international law and starting a European trade war by breaking up the Northern Ireland protocol.
Foreign Secretary Liz Truss’s plans to scrap parts of the Brexit trade deal without the agreement of the EU were even attacked by Tories in the Commons as running counter to the rule of law.
The Brexit deal signed by Boris Johnson in 2019 means there are customs checks on goods travelling between the UK and Northern Ireland, creating an EU border in the Irish Sea.
But the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) has refused to join Northern Ireland’s power-sharing administration with Sinn Fein until their longstanding objections to the protocol are dealt with.Foreign Secretary Liz Truss told MPs that a draft law would laid in the coming weeks, which would overwrite parts of the Prime Minister’s deal with the European Union if backed by MPs.Truss said she wanted to introduce a bill with “necessary measures to lessen the burden on east-west trade” and will “ensure the people of Northern Ireland are able to access the same benefits as the people of Great Britain”.Under the draft law, goods destined for Northern Ireland would be sent via a “green channel” and there would be a “red channel” for goods that will travel onwards from Northern Ireland to the Republic of Ireland which is part of the EU.Amid warnings from Labour and the SNP benches that EU trade tariffs would follow a breach of the deal Simon Hoare MP, the Tory chair of the Northern Ireland select committee, said he found it “extraordinary” that a Tory government needed to be reminded of its commitment to rule of law.He told the Foreign Secretary: “Respect for the rule of law runs deep in our Tory veins and I
Read more on dailyrecord.co.uk
