[ad_1]
Boris Johnson’s Brexit proposals have “damaged confidence” and delayed talks on a trade deal with the EU, an Irish minister told Sky News.
Reaction to Prime Minister’s Internal Market Bill Continues, With Former Prime Ministers Sir John Major and Tony Blair joining the chorus of critics.
The government has admitted the Brexi bill, which will be debated by deputies next week in the middle of a possible tory rebellion, violates international law.
It nullifies parts of the EU divorce deal and has sparked a furor in Brussels, which has threatened legal action for what it considers a violation of an international treaty.
Ireland’s Attorney General Helen McEntee told Sky’s Sophy Ridge on Sunday that this week’s events “have certainly set us back.”
He said Johnson’s push to quash parts of the Brexit deal he negotiated with Brussels last year has “damaged trust” between Britain and Ireland.
“It has caused a lot of confusion. I think it has, in a way, damaged the trust between both parties,” McEntee told Sky News.
“It is very difficult to see how a free trade agreement can be negotiated when what has already been agreed is proposed to breach less than nine months later.
But Justice Secretary Robert Buckland defended the prime minister’s strategy, saying, “This is not something we do lightly, this is not something we really want to use, this is something that a responsible government does to prepare for it. worst”. .
“But I can reiterate our firm determination to reach an agreement.”
Buckland twice avoided the question when asked if he would resign if the government fails to abide by the rule of law.
He also claimed that what the prime minister was proposing was in accordance with “the most honorable traditions of the British state,” which he said was “to alert everyone to the possibility of a problem, to really legislate to prepare us nationally for that.”
Buckland rejected the comparisons between the government’s plans and criminal law infringement, describing them as “totally out of place.”
“What we are talking about here is intricate arrangements of international law,” he said.
“I can assure the Irish government that I can assure all friends in Europe that all we are trying to do is prepare the ground at the national level if things don’t work out.”
Northern Ireland Labor Secretary Louise Haigh said the legislation “seriously undermines and jeopardizes” the chances of a trade deal with the EU.
She told Sophy Ridge on Sunday: “This is the last thing the country needs right now.
“As we try to respond to COVID and cope with the economic recovery, what we need is an agreement with the European Union that protects our business relationship, protects businesses, protects jobs and protects jobs in Northern Ireland.
“What Boris Johnson is doing is risking all that and, as I say, it is the last thing the country needs at this critical moment.”
[ad_2]