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British Prime Minister Boris Johnson on Monday called for the integrity of the United Kingdom to defend his controversial bill, which dates back to commitments already made under the Brexit agreement, reports AFP, according to Agerpres. The Conservative leader faces a frond in his own field.
The head of the Conservative government told the House of Commons that the proposed text was “essential to maintaining the political and economic integrity of the UK.”
Boris Johnson accused the European Union of threatening to create “a customs border in our own country” between Great Britain and the province of Northern Ireland. His bill is a “safety net,” an “insurance policy” that he hopes never to use, he said.
“No British prime minister, no government, no parliament could accept” such conditions, he argued, responding to criticism from his five predecessors.
According to the government itself, this bill violates international law “in a very precise and limited way”, contradicting certain parts of the exit agreement that London undertook to comply with less than a year ago, in particular customs provisions for Northern Ireland.
By demanding the withdrawal of the controversial provisions before the end of the month, Brussels has threatened legal action and said it sees it as a blow to mutual “trust” at a time when the two sides only have a few weeks. to reach a free trade agreement and avoid a brutal breach and collection of customs duties as of January 1, 2021. This date corresponds to the end of the transitional period after the January 31 divorce.
Even if Boris Johnson has a large majority that makes the text unlikely to be rejected in the first vote on Monday night, rebel MPs could have decisive support in the coming days for an amendment tabled by MP Robert Neill, which limits the powers of the government over any This could be attributed to the Brexit deal, comments France Presse.
The conservative rebellion escalated on Monday with criticism from Geoffrey Cox, a former pro-Brexit legal adviser, and Sajid Javid, a former finance minister who resigned in February.
Also read: The President of the European Council urges London to fully implement the EU exit agreement
Publisher: BP
