UK to present post-Brexit N.Ireland legislation on Monday

UK to present post-Brexit N.Ireland legislation on Monday
June 10, 2022, 11:35 am

UK PM Boris Johnson at the House of Commons - Credit: House of Commons Twitter account

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson's government will present legislation to parliament on Monday (June 13) to unilaterally revise the post-Brexit trade arrangements for Northern Ireland.

The order paper for the House of Commons said Foreign Secretary Liz Truss would present a bill to set out how the terms included in the Northern Ireland protocol would be defined in domestic law.

The move risks damaging relations between London and Brussels.

Johnson agreed to the protocol in 2019 to allow Britain to leave the EU's single market and customs union without controls being re-imposed on the border between the Irish Republic and Northern Ireland, vital to the 1998 Good Friday peace deal that ended three decades of violence.

Britain's Prime Minister Boris Johnson and Ireland's Prime Minister (Taoiseach) Micheal Martin are seen at Hillsborough Castle, in Belfast, Northern Ireland August 13, 2020. Brian Lawless/Pool via Reuters

By striking such a deal, he effectively agreed to a customs border between the British-run province of Northern Ireland and the rest of the United Kingdom. Britain now says the protocol is unworkable, and months of talks with the EU have failed to find any solutions.

EU warns UK against ‘not acceptable’ Northern Ireland deal changes

Last month, foreign minister Liz Truss said she would introduce legislation to make changes to the protocol. She said the legislation would involve a dual regulatory regime designed to ensure goods moving to Northern Ireland and staying there would be free of unnecessary administrative burdens.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson's spokesman said on Thursday (June 9): "We'll be setting out further detail about our legal position when we put the bill forwards," adding the bill was in the final stages of drafting.

"The relevant committee met and agreed this yesterday."

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