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A government minister has said that a new bill to amend the UK’s Brexit deal with the EU “will violate international law”.
Concerns have been raised about the introduction of legislation that could change parts of the withdrawal agreement, negotiated last year.
Northern Ireland’s secretary, Brandon Lewis, admitted that he would go against the treaty in a “specific and limited way.”
Former Prime Minister Theresa May warned that the change could damage “confidence” in the UK about future trade deals with other states.
Labor shadow attorney general Lord Charlie Falconer said the government had “an obligation to comply with the law, national and international.”
He added: “Throughout the Brexit process, the government tried to act within the law. This is new. And very bad.”
Issue 10 revealed on Monday that it would introduce a new UK internal market bill that could affect post-Brexit trade and customs rules in Northern Ireland.
Downing Street said it would only make “minor clarifications in extremely specific areas” but worried some in Brussels and Westminster that it might see the government try to change the withdrawal agreement, which became international law when the UK left the EU in January. .
It comes as a sixth senior official announced he is resigning from the government, the permanent secretary of the Government Legal Department, Sir Jonathan Jones, amid reports that he was “very unhappy” with the bill.
The dispute also comes at the beginning of the eighth round of post-Brexit trade talks between the UK and the EU.
The two sides are trying to secure a deal before the transition period ends on December 31, which will see the UK adopt World Trade Organization rules if no deal is reached.
The UK’s top Brexit negotiator Lord David Frost called for “realism” from his EU counterparts, saying it would “send our clear message that we must move forward this week if we are to reach a deal on time.”
The EU said it would “do everything possible [its] power to reach a deal “with the UK, but” will be ready “for a no-deal scenario.
On Monday, Boris Johnson said that if an agreement had not been reached by the time the European Council meets on October 15, the two sides should “go ahead” and agree to leave the UK without one.
Northern Ireland’s shadow secretary Louise Haigh said it was “deeply concerning” that the prime minister “appeared to be undermining the legal obligations of his own accord” by introducing the new law while negotiations are under way. .
‘Rule of law’
The text of the new bill will not be published until Wednesday, although the government has confirmed that it will address the issue of the so-called Northern Ireland Protocol, an element of the withdrawal agreement designed to prevent a hard border from returning to the island of Ireland. after Brexit.
The practical aspects of the protocol, which will deal with matters of state aid (financial support given to companies by governments) and whether it is necessary to carry out customs checks on goods, are still being negotiated in a joint committee of the UK and the EU. .
But Lewis said the bill would take “limited and reasonable steps to create a safety net” if negotiations failed.
Speaking during an urgent question about the bill, Justice Committee Chairman and Conservative MP Bob Neill said that “adherence to the rule of law is non-negotiable.”
He asked Mr. Lewis: “Will you assure us that nothing proposed in this legislation violates or could potentially violate international obligations or international legal agreements?”
The Northern Ireland secretary replied: “Yes. This violates international law in a very specific and limited way.”
He said the government was still working “in good faith” with the EU joint committee to overcome its concerns about the future of trade in Northern Ireland, but said there was “a clear precedent for the UK and indeed other countries that need to consider their obligations if circumstances change. “
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Ms May, who stepped down as prime minister last year after her own Brexit deal failed to win Parliament’s support, said: “The UK government signed the withdrawal deal with the Northern Ireland Protocol.
“This Parliament voted that withdrawal agreement into UK law. The government is now changing the way that agreement works.”
“How can the government assure future international partners that the UK can be trusted to abide by the legal obligations of the agreements it signs?”
The leader of the Liberal Democrats, Sir Ed Davey, also called it “a sad and shocking situation for our country.”
He tweeted: “Breaking international law will do incalculable damage to our reputations abroad, make us poorer and make it more difficult to solve global crises like the climate emergency.”
‘Union division agreement’
Sammy Wilson, who serves as the Brexit spokesperson for the Northern Ireland Democratic Unionist Party, said he was “pleased” to have the new bill that could address some of the issues that could affect his constituents, such as state aid and customs controls.
But he said the DUP had “warned ministers of the impact of the withdrawal agreement” from the beginning, saying it was an “agreement to split unions, destroy the economy and create borders that must be changed and replaced.”
He added: “We will judge this bill based on whether it meets these kinds of issues.”
However, Claire Hanna, a MP for the Belfast South Labor and Social Democratic Party (SDLP), said the protocol was “a symptom … of four years of terrible political decision-making.”
He added: “Now it is the law. This government is obliged to implement it in its entirety.”
He also “warned” Mr. Lewis “not to use the threat of a border on the island of Ireland or the hard-won fairness of the Good Friday Agreement as cat’s paw in this or any other negotiation.”
But former Conservative leader Sir Iain Duncan Smith said the law that made the withdrawal agreement into law in the UK allowed the government to “reserve the right to make clarifications under the sovereignty clause.”
Lewis agreed, saying the law would “clarify … the points about what will apply in January if we are unable to reach mutually appropriate and satisfactory conclusions” in the negotiations.
He added: “It is reasonable and sensible to give that certainty and clarity to people and businesses in Northern Ireland.”
