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Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab is in Washington, where he is expected to try to reassure US politicians about the latest Brexit twist.
Some American politicians are concerned about the UK government’s plan to quash parts of the Brexit divorce deal.
Raab will meet with US President Nancy Pelosi, who last week said there would be no trade deal between the UK and the US if the Northern Ireland peace deal was undermined.
Number 10 has said that the peace agreement will stand in all circumstances.
Raab will meet with prominent politicians, including his American counterpart, Mike Pompeo, as well as Democratic Congresswoman Pelosi, Speaker of the House of Representatives.
Threats over the UK-US trade deal
Brexit is expected to be high on the agenda of the Washington meetings.
Earlier this week, a proposed law that would give the UK government the power to override part of the Brexit withdrawal deal, which Prime Minister Boris Johnson agreed to with the EU last October, overcame its first hurdle.
It was approved by MPs in the House of Commons, but now must be approved by the House of Lords.
If the law takes effect, it would violate international law, a prospect that sparked an irate response from leading figures in the United States last week.
- What just happened to Brexit?
Pelosi said that if the UK violates international law and Brexit undermines the Good Friday Accord, the NI peace deal, there would be “absolutely no chance that a US-UK trade deal will be approved by the UK. Congress”.
Then on Tuesday, four senior congressmen also issued a similar warning, saying that a trade deal between the UK and the US would be blocked if the UK did not preserve the benefits of the Good Friday Agreement.
In a letter to Mr Johnson, the four congressmen said plans to change the part of the Brexit deal in Northern Ireland (known as the Northern Ireland Protocol) could have “disastrous consequences for the Good Friday Agreement and a broader process to keep the peace on the island of Ireland. “
“We therefore urge you to abandon any and all legally questionable and unfair efforts to circumvent the Northern Ireland protocol of the withdrawal agreement and seek to ensure that Brexit negotiations do not undermine decades of progress in bringing the peace to Northern Ireland, “the letter added.
Number 10 responded to the letter, saying it was taking these steps to ensure that the Good Friday Agreement “is respected in all circumstances and that harmful breaches do not inadvertently come into play that could jeopardize the enormous achievements of the process of peace”.
“We are absolutely committed to no hard border or border infrastructure between the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. This is a legal safety net and no east-west controls being imposed all of a sudden, which directly contradicts the Agreement. Belfast (Good Friday). “
Spokesperson 10 added: “We will continue to engage with our American partners in a bipartisan manner to ensure our positions are understood and to ensure that we enter into a trade agreement with broad support in the United States.”
In their talks Wednesday, Raab is expected to argue that the government’s plans are precautionary and proportionate, and a response to what ministers describe as threats from the EU to block food imports.
Raab will also meet with Pompeo, amid ongoing transatlantic tensions over Iran.
The US secretary of state recently accused the UK and its European allies of “siding with the ayatollahs” for blocking new United Nations sanctions against Iran.