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LONDON: Prime Minister Boris Johnson told the European Union not to threaten Britain on Saturday (September 12), saying a bill that would violate a divorce treaty with the bloc was needed to protect the integrity of the country. .
With the EU stepping up planning for trade talks to end without a deal, Johnson has accused his negotiators of threatening to impose a food blockade between Great Britain and Northern Ireland.
“Let’s get the EU to take its threats off the table,” Johnson said on Twitter. “And let’s get this bill passed, support our negotiators and protect our country.”
British lawmakers will begin debating the Internal Markets Bill on Monday, which one minister said would violate international law “in a very specific and limited way.”
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The government says it is necessary to clarify the element of the Northern Ireland protocol of the Brexit deal that it signed in January to protect free trade between the four constituent nations of the United Kingdom.
But European lawmakers said on Friday they would not approve any new trade deals unless the withdrawal agreement is fully implemented, while possible legal action is also being discussed.
The two sides have set a deadline for the end of October for a deal, raising the possibility that almost a trillion dollars in trade between the EU and the UK will be confused in early 2021 when a transition period ends.
“GREAT DEAL”
In a Daily Telegraph article, Johnson said “a lot” could still be done, but it appeared that the EU was adopting an “extreme interpretation” of the Northern Ireland protocol.
“We never seriously believed that the EU would be willing to use a treaty, negotiated in good faith, to block a part of the UK, to cut it off, or that they would actually threaten to destroy the UK’s economic and territorial integrity.”
Johnson’s bill also faces opposition from senior figures in his Conservative Party and some of his own lawmakers who are unhappy with the prospect of breaking international law.
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In a video conference with his lawmakers on Friday, he called for support for his bill and for them to prevent a repeat of “squabbles” over the Brexit divorce deal, in which some left the party and others were fired.
Michael Gove, one of Johnson’s top ministers, said the government had the support of its own lawmakers and other parties. But some were clearly not convinced.
“Without amendment, I cannot support this bill … it is damaging the UK brand, diminishing our role model status as a champion of global standards,” Conservative lawmaker Tobias Ellwood and chairman of the advocacy committee wrote on Twitter. of parliament.
Pressed on whether Britain would violate international law, Gove said the bill was consistent with “the rule of law” and denied it was a negotiating tactic to pressure the EU to make concessions for a trade deal.
