Boris Johnson risks breaking international law by ripping up Northern Ireland protocol

Boris 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 find it extraordinary that a Tory government needs to be reminded of that”

Truss responded : “We are very clear that this is legal in international law and we will be setting out our legal position in due course”.

Liz Truss told the Commons: “This is not about scrapping the protocol. Our aim is to deliver on the protocol’s objectives.

“We will cement those provisions which are working in the protocol, including the common travel area, the single electricity market and north-south co-operation, whilst fixing those elements that aren’t, on the movement of goods, goods regulation, VAT, subsidy control, and governance.”

DUP leader Jeffrey Donaldson MP signalled his party might compromise on powers-sharing by welcoming the plans as a “good start” but added that “actions speak louder than words”.

Donaldson told the Commons: “The statement today is a welcome if overdue step that is a significant move towards addressing the problems created by the protocol and getting power-sharing based upon a cross-community consensus up and running again.”

He called for “sensible arrangements” and said: “The words today are a good start. But the Foreign Secretary will know that it is actions that speak louder than words. I welcome her commitment to such decisive action in this statement.”

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