Amal Clooney has relinquished his role as the UK’s ambassador to the press on the government’s readiness to break international law on Brexit.
The human rights lawyer said it was “saddening” that Boris Johnson thought of overriding the Brexit agreement he signed last year.
When the UK “declares that it does not want to do it itself” it could not say respect for legal obligations.
The prime minister says he does not want to use the power in the internal markets bill.
But he says if legal negotiations fail and the EU acts “unreasonably”, the government needs to be empowered to protect the UK and especially Northern Ireland.
In her resignation letter, Mrs Clooney, who is married to Hollywood actor George Clooney, said she accepted the job last year because of the UK’s historic role in maintaining international legal order.
But he said his position was “destabilized” by the government’s efforts to pass an internal market bill that passed the first hurdle in the Commons last week.
‘No sure’
He said he decided to step down after talking to Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab and “making sure no change in the situation is imminent.”
He added: “It is sad for the UK to talk about its intention to violate an international treaty that the Prime Minister signed less than a year ago.
“As a special envoy, it has become impossible for me to urge other states to respect and implement international obligations, while the UK declares that it does not intend to do so.”
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Mrs. Clooney was appointed by Jeremy Hunt, a successor during Mr. Rabb’s predecessor, Theresa May, in the final months of his government, and Boris Jones took the position at No. 10.
She was chair of a high-level panel of legal experts working with the UK and Canadian governments on her campaign to promote media freedom around the world.
‘Contradiction’
Labor leader Sir Keer Starr, who practiced in the same barristers’ chamber as Mrs Clooney, said she had made the right decision.
“I know Amal and he is a first-class lawyer. I am not surprised that he has left because, like everyone else, he has concluded that there is a conflict between the violation of international law – which the government seems intent on – and our reputation. “As a country in the world that abides by the rule of law,” he said.
His resignation adds to the growing list of senior legal entities who have left their role in disgust at the state’s position.
Lord Kane resigned as Scotland’s Advocate General on Wednesday, saying he found his responsibilities as a lawyer “increasingly difficult to reconcile” with the provisions of the law.
Sir Jonathan Jones, the government’s most senior legal adviser and permanent secretary to the government’s legal department, has resigned, according to Tony MP Rehman Chishti, the UK’s ambassador for the protection of religious freedom.
The EU has called on the government to remove sections of the bill that would give the UK the power to override agreements between Northern Ireland and the UK on the movement of goods and subsidies for NI companies.
Northern Ireland Secretary Brandon Lewis has acknowledged that using them would break the UK’s treaty obligations in a “specific and limited” way under international law.
The prime minister has called for a halt to the uprising by next week’s MPs, with critics promising that the government will get a definite vote on power before it can be used.
But former Conservative leader Lord Howard has said the prime minister needs to go further, saying it is a matter of principle and he doubts whether Lords will raise the bill as it is.
