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LONDON – The government of Boris Johnson on Monday introduced legislation that threatens to tear apart the central part of the Brexit deal, which the prime minister hailed as a victory – the agreement with the European Union, which controls the movement of goods between Britain and Northern Ireland.
The highly controversial bill, which came just a week after Johnson survived a no-confidence vote, has sparked rejection by European diplomats, the Irish prime minister and members of Johnson’s own party, allegations that a unilateral turnaround would violate international law and spark trade war. from the mainland.
The British government is also wary of the reaction of the White House and Congress. U.S. politicians, including President Biden, have repeatedly warned Johnson not to do anything that could undermine peace in Northern Ireland. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has threatened that there will never be a trade deal with the United States if the prime minister violates the status quo.
Johnson said on Monday that he was in fact trying to keep the peace by withdrawing from what is known as the “Northern Ireland Protocol” – which he negotiated, concluded and welcomed in 2020.
Critics of Johnson say he either never read his own deal, or he never understood it, or he just hoped to come up with the details later.
Fudging was a central theme during his tenure. The House of Commons is investigating whether he lied about drunken parties organized in his offices and residence on Downing Street during the blockade of the coronavirus pandemic.
UK to investigate whether Boris Johnson lied about blocking parties
Johnson initially praised the Brexit trade protocol as a clever compromise – allowing Britain to liberate itself while maintaining the integrity of the EU market and maintaining the free flow that helped strengthen peace on the island of Ireland. He dismissed fears by unionists in Northern Ireland that the agreement would lead to a customs and control regime for goods moving across the Irish Sea.
But now he says it is crucial to acknowledge that trade unionists feel cut off from the rest of Britain.
He told broadcasters on Monday: “We need to understand that there are two traditions in Northern Ireland, probably two ways of dealing with border issues, and one community now feels very, very alienated from the way things work and very alienated. . And we just have to fix that. “
The new bill will eliminate general checks on goods moving between the UK and Northern Ireland, instead creating “green lanes” with fewer documents and “red lanes” with more control. It also requires that commercial disputes be resolved through “independent arbitration” and not by the European Court of Justice.
On Monday, Irish Prime Minister Michel Martin told reporters: “It is very unfortunate for a country like the United Kingdom to abandon an international treaty.”
Martin continued: “I think this is a new low point, because the natural expectation of democracies like us, the United Kingdom and the whole of Europe is to respect the international agreements we conclude.
British Foreign Secretary Liz Truss said she had tried to find a compromise with Europeans.
Irish Foreign Secretary Simon Cowney has accused the British government of proposing “deliberate escalation of tensions with the EU, which seeks compromise”. He said Trus had not met with his colleagues since February.
At one level, everything has to do with trade details and documents – how chicken or egg, or pharmaceuticals and car parts, need to be inspected and taxed when goods cross the Irish Sea, and how these goods move in the Common European Market through Irish back door.
On a deeper level, it has to do with the future of the United Kingdom and whether Northern Ireland will remain part of that kingdom or slip away, as Scotland threatens to do, creating a shrinking British state under Johnson or his successors.
Map: The Good Friday Agreement, the 1998 armistice that brought peace to Ireland, ending a 30-year sectarian civil struggle known as the “Problems”. The pact, negotiated in part by the United States, erased the militarized border between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland and created an unstable, dysfunctional but peaceful division of power in Belfast between unionists and Republicans, pro-British Protestants and pro-Irish Catholics.
Unionists in Belfast are now refusing to participate in power-sharing institutions until the trade situation is resolved.
But on Monday, 52 of the 90 members of the Northern Ireland Assembly signed a letter rejecting “in the strictest terms” Johnson’s attempt to rewrite the minutes. Assembly members called his move “reckless.”
In Westminster, too, some Johnson Conservative MPs worried that it could reopen the Brexit debate and treaties. Critics say Johnson succumbs to extremist elements threatening violence.
For his part, Johnson on Monday called the proposed changes, which his government is seeking a “trivial correction”.
Trus said the new bill would “solve the problems with the Northern Ireland Protocol and restore political stability”. She said she hoped Brussels would “want to change”.
Maros Shefcovic, vice-president of the European Commission, said the UK’s move to unilaterally repeal the Northern Ireland Protocol was “damage to mutual trust and a formula for uncertainty”.
David Henig, a trade policy expert, said the unresolved Northern Ireland issue could already have a “freezing effect” on where companies invest and are located.
Hennig said that although the Biden administration had made its position clear, “it could really handle a little more hands.” For example, “there is still no envoy in Northern Ireland and there are no indications that the United States is offering mediators or that it could facilitate dialogue.”
Carla Adam contributed to this report.
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