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Parliament of the United Kingdom / Jessica Taylor
Former Attorney General Geoffrey Cox has said he will vote against the government’s attempts to quash the Brexit Withdrawal Agreement when it comes before the Commons.
He accused Boris Johnson of doing “inconceivable” damage to Britain’s international reputation.
The internal market bill would run counter to the agreement signed by the UK and the European Union earlier this year.
Attorney General Robert Buckland said the bill was an “insurance policy.”
Buckland told the BBC that he hoped the powers ministers sought would never be necessary, and that he would resign if the UK ended up violating international law “in a way that I find unacceptable”.
Cox backed Brexit and was the government’s top legal adviser when the Withdrawal Agreement was drafted.
Writing in The Times, Cox said there is “no question” that the “unpleasant” implications of the Withdrawal Agreement were known when the prime minister signed it.
“We, the British government and parliament, have given our word. Our honor, our credibility, our respect for ourselves and our future influence in the world depend on our keeping that word,” Cox wrote.
He said there were legal ways for the government to handle its concerns, such as using a procedure set out in the agreement to take “temporary and proportionate measures” to protect UK interests if approved by the House of Commons.
“What the ministers should not do, no matter how provoked or frustrated they feel, is to take or use the powers permanently and unilaterally to rewrite parts of an agreement that this country freely entered into just a few months ago,” he added.
The UK has insisted that there should be no further controls on goods moving from Northern Ireland to Britain when it leaves the single market and the EU customs union on January 1.
The Northern Ireland Protocol, a key part of the Withdrawal Agreement signed by both parties last year, is designed to prevent a firm border from returning to the island of Ireland.
The internal market bill would give ministers the power to reduce the amount of paperwork that Northern Irish companies have to fill out on goods bound for Great Britain, such as export and exit declarations, or completely eliminate the need to do so. .
It would also allow the UK to modify or reinterpret the “state aid” rules on subsidies for companies in Northern Ireland, should the two parties fail to reach a future trade deal.
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It’s controversial because it would change the terms of the Northern Ireland Protocol, a crucial part of the legally binding Withdrawal Agreement agreed to by both parties before the UK’s departure from the EU on January 31.
The government’s intentions have drawn widespread criticism, with former prime ministers Tony Blair and Sir John Major accusing the prime minister of “embarrassing” the UK.
The former leaders were in office during key periods of the Northern Ireland peace process.
The two urged parliamentarians to reject the “shameful” attempt to nullify parts of the deal, writing in the Sunday Times that the government’s actions were “irresponsible, wrong in principle and dangerous in practice.”
The EU has warned the UK that it could face legal action if it does not get rid of controversial elements of the Internal Market Act by the end of the month.
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