The Northern Ireland Secretary wants to push through the unilateral amendments to the Northern Ireland Protocol.
(Photo: via REUTERS)
London The British government considers unilateral changes to the so-called Northern Ireland Protocol to be legal. British Minister for Northern Ireland Brandon Lewis told Sky News on Sunday that a bill that would give ministers the power to abolish parts of this Brexit regulation for Northern Ireland would not violate international law.
“What we are going to do is lawful and correct,” he said. It will be seen that the government’s proposal will solve the protocol’s key problems. At the same time, Lewis accused the European Union of lacking flexibility.
Rachel Reeves of the opposition Labor Party told the broadcaster that it appeared the government was planning to break international law. Instead, to get the Northern Ireland Protocol to work, you have to negotiate and work together with your European partners.
Great Britain negotiated the Northern Ireland Protocol itself as part of the EU exit, but now no longer considers it practicable. Because the agreement has created a de facto customs border in the Irish Sea that separates Northern Ireland from the rest of the United Kingdom. This led, among other things, to delivery problems and also to great resentment in Great Britain
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On Monday, the British Parliament wanted to deal with the government’s controversial bill. Should Britain unilaterally repeal the protocol, a trade war looms with the EU, which opposes changes. Brussels has made it clear that changes to the protocol were a breach of international law.
The strongest force in the Northern Irish Parliament sees this as a breach of the law
The Catholic nationalist party Sinn Fein accuses the British government of breaking the law in the planned changes to the Northern Ireland Agreement. “It is not constructive, it has embarked on a destructive path, and it is now planning legislation that will undoubtedly break international law,” party leader Mary Lou McDonald told Sky News on Sunday.
Sinn Fein had recently won a historic victory in the parliamentary elections in the British province of Northern Ireland and called for a debate on unification with the EU state of Ireland.
More: Johnson: Problems in Northern Ireland are a result of the Brexit agreement