Tories tell Boris Johnson that watering down brexit deal is dangerous

Senior Conservatives have warned Boris Johnson that his plans to water down Britain’s obligations under the EU withdrawal could make a no-deal Brexit more likely.

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson faces unrest over his Brexit strategy. Picture: AFP

Senior Conservatives warned Boris Johnson last night (Monday) that his plans to water down Britain’s obligations under the EU withdrawal agreement were a “dangerous step” that could make a no-deal Brexit more likely.

Amid growing unease among Tory backbenchers about the prime minister’s strategy, MPs criticised Downing Street’s plans to unilaterally pass legislation that could limit the need for customs checks in the Irish Sea and new state aid rules in the event of trade talks collapsing.

They warned that any move to walk away from the deal signed by Mr Johnson last year would damage Britain’s standing and make it harder to strike trade deals with other countries.

Downing Street said yesterday (Monday) that the plans were only a “safety net” to protect trade across different parts of the UK, but senior European Union figures warned that they could damage trust before the latest round of talks starting today (Tuesday).

Simon Coveney, the Irish foreign minister, said that abandoning the principles of last year’s agreement would be “a very unwise way to proceed”. A European Commission spokesman said: “Full implementation of the withdrawal agreement, and in particular the protocol on Ireland and Northern Ireland, is essential. These are legal obligations under international law. This is a matter of trust, a prerequisite or precondition for negotiations on the future partnership.”

Irish Foreign Minister Simon Coveney shaking hands with German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas after the Global Ireland 2025: Making It Happen conference at Dublin Castle in January, 2019. Picture: AFP

Under the terms of the withdrawal agreement Britain must notify Brussels of any decisions on state aid that would affect Northern Ireland’s goods market and compel businesses in the province to file customs paperwork when sending goods between Northern Ireland and the rest of the UK. Clauses in a billdue to be published tomorrow (Wednesday) will give ministers the power to define which elements of state aid need to be reported to Brussels. Separate legislation could allow Britain to exempt certain goods crossing from Britain into Northern Ireland from customs checks without the approval of Brussels.

When the proposals were leaked No 10 playes down the significance of the plans, suggesting that they were a contingency and did not represent a change in policy. “The government is completely committed, as it always has been, to implementing the NI protocol in good faith,” a UK official said. “If we don’t take these steps we face the prospect of legal confusion at the end of the year and potentially extremely damaging defaults, including tariffs on goods moving from GB to Northern Ireland.”

The One Nation group of moderate Tory MPs, which met last night (Monday), remained alarmed by the strategy. One of the MPs said: “This would clearly have some real issues in terms of our status as a country. If we breach an international agreement it will affect our ability to do deals with others. The ramifications of doing this are serious.”

Others were sympathetic to No 10. One said that Michel Barnier, the EU’s chief negotiator, was being “disruptive”.

Catherine Barnard, a professor of European law at Cambridge University, described the plan as a “high stakes gamble”. She said: “This is politics over law.”

David Frost, Downing Street’s chief Brexit negotiator, said that the EU side needed to adopt more “realism” if a deal was to be possible. “We have repeatedly made clear that key elements of our position derive from the fundamentals of being a sovereign state, and it’s time for the EU to fully recognise this reality,” he said.

Bernd Lange, the German Socialist MEP who chairs the European parliament’s trade committee, said that he was “shocked” by Britain’s approach. “This is not how you deal with negotiating partners. I haven’t seen anything like it in decades,” he said.

The Times