Brexit: Boris Johnson rips up Northern Ireland Protocol

UK government angers the EU by introducing new legislation, while Irish politicians threaten a fresh trade war and a reopening of Brexit divisions.

Boris Johnson has introduced new legislation to rip up the Northern Ireland Protocol. Picture: AFP.

The United Kingdom government has introduced new legislation to rip up the Northern Ireland protocol, angering the European Union and Irish politicians who have threatened a fresh trade war and a reopening of Brexit divisions within the Conservative party.

For 18 months post-Brexit difficulties for Northern Ireland, including a refusal by the Democratic Unionist Party to form a government at Stormont has caused such “exceptional and long term” political concern, the Boris Johnson government has now tested international law to do away with the protocol and introduce a new one.

Under the new legislation, introduced on Tuesday morning Australian time to Westminster, the British government can make changes to restore stability and ensure the delicate balance of the Good Friday agreement is protected.

The government said the latest Northern Ireland Protocol Bill will address the practical problems the existing protocol – the Brexit deal negotiated between the EU and the UK which included an effective trade border down the Irish Sea – had presented.

These include burdensome customs processes, inflexible regulation, tax and spend discrepancies and democratic governance issues, the government said.

Foreign minister Liz Truss presented the bill to parliament saying “We’re fixing these problems that are causing real difficulties for communities within the United Kingdom and that is the duty of the United Kingdom Government to make sure we maintain political stability in our own country.

“We have sought a negotiated settlement for the last 18 months, but as yet the EU have been unwilling to change the terms of the Protocol.’’

The new bill will introduce a green lane of no checks for goods travelling between Northern Ireland and the rest of the UK and a red lane of checks for goods destined for the EU. As well it is proposed the British courts are to have greater control over trade disputes.

The EU immediately signalled it will recommence legal action against the UK for breaching the Brexit Withdrawal Agreement.

Maros Sefcovic, a European Commission vice-president, said the UK’s actions were “damaging to mutual trust and a formula for uncertainty”.

Thomas Byrne, Ireland’s minister for European Affairs, warned London radio station LBC: “Undoubtedly there will be consequences”.

He said: “If you run through a traffic light, you’ll be punished, if you commit some other breach of the law, you’ll be punished. There will be consequences for Britain but we don’t want to get into that space. We want this to be worked out between the two sides for the betterment of Northern Ireland”.

Sinn Féin said it “flies in the face of the expressed wishes of not just most businesses but most people in Northern Ireland”.

But Ms Truss said: “The serious situation in Northern Ireland means we cannot afford to allow the situation to drift” and called for the EU to change their inflexible stance in regards to the protocol.

She insisted the new bill will end an “untenable “ situation where people in Northern Ireland are treated differently to the rest of the United Kingdom, while also protecting the supremacy of the British court system and territorial integrity.

She said: “This is a reasonable, practical solution to the problems facing Northern Ireland. It will safeguard the EU Single Market and ensure there is no hard border on the island of Ireland. We are ready to deliver this through talks with the EU. But we can only make progress through negotiations if the EU are willing to change the Protocol itself – at the moment they aren’t. In the meantime the serious situation in Northern Ireland means we cannot afford to allow the situation to drift.’’

Labour’s Northern Ireland spokesman Peter Kyle agreed that the Protocol had to have changes but criticised the new measures, saying: ”This government under Boris Johnson and Liz Truss cannot even get a prawn sandwich across the Irish Sea.”

The new Bill will present a test of Johnson’s fragile leadership and whether he can placate the 70 strong hard Brexiteer MP’s of the Tory party, while also bringing together Remainer MP’s. Getting the new bill through the Lords could be also problematic.