A senior minister in Boris Johnson's government has warned that the UK government will tear up the post-divorce deal governing trade in Northern Ireland.
If the EU did not reform the Northern Ireland Protocol then the UK government could take its own action, according to the minister.
The protocol was signed on the basis that it would be reformed.
Johnson's government in 2020 threatened to disapply parts of the protocol in UK law, an action the government admitted would have violated international law.
Since London left the EU in January 2020, there have been disagreements over the protocol.
In order to avoid a return to a hard border on the island of Ireland, Johnson agreed to create a trade border in the Irish Sea and leave Northern Ireland following EU rules for goods trade.
Attempts to reach a negotiated settlement with the EU to modify the protocol have so far failed to make progress, causing tensions between London and the EU and leading a growing number of pro-Brexit MPs to demand the UK government repudiate the protocol altogether.
The UK has the right to veto the deal, according to the EU scrutiny committee. He said that must be the case.
The sensitivities of May's local elections in Northern Ireland, where the protocol has been rejected by all pro-UK Unionist parties, made it impossible for the government to provide details of its plans.
The legal architecture may be created to disapply key parts of the protocol in certain circumstances.
They said that the government could use its powers to overrule the agreement if it chose to.
The protocol is not working and is causing problems in Northern Ireland.
The former top lawyer for the UK government resigned in 2020 in protest at the government's attempt to disapply the protocol.
The UK parliament has the right to legislate to repudiate the protocol, but that would put the UK in violation of its international treaty obligations and raise questions about our commitment to international law.
The government of Johnson has held off using the clause to invoke the clause because it wants to negotiate a settlement.
In recent weeks, Johnson has faced increasing pressure from the rightwing of his party to take steps to remedy what it sees as an intolerable intrusion into British sovereignty.
The 1998 Good Friday Agreement secured peace between the region's mainly Catholic Nationalist community and mainly Protestant Unionist community. The UK government's priority is to protect peace and stability in Northern Ireland.
All Rights Reserved © 2024
