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A government minister resigned in the dispute over Boris Johnson’s bid to potentially violate international law by overturning the Brexit deal.
Lord Keen de Elie, Scotland’s counsel general, reportedly resigned on Wednesday.
The prime minister appeared to suggest that he was trying to convince the pair to remain in his post, telling a committee that afternoon that “talks on that matter are still going on.”
But Downing Street has now confirmed that Lord Keen had resigned, with a spokesman adding: “The prime minister thanks you for your service.”
Follows the admission of the government that proposed Brexi the legislation would violate international law.
The UK’s internal market bill, which cleared its first parliamentary hurdle to become law earlier this week, has been heavily criticized in both Westminster and Brussels.
The EU has threatened legal action and said it could threaten ongoing trade talks on a future EU-UK relationship.
Shortly after Lord Keen’s resignation, Johnson partially lowered on his controversial bill, and promised to give disgruntled MPs another vote before any of the powers are used.
However, this is on the condition that they pass the internal market bill when it is due to complete its tour of the commons early next week.
Sky Deputy Political Editor Sam Coates said Lord Keen “was one of the government’s law enforcement officers; he was in charge of executing legal duties,” adding: “He clearly felt that he could not remain in office as long as the government is pushing for legislation that will violate international standards. law. “
Coates explained: “He had previously resigned and during that time it appears that ministers were trying to dissuade him from leaving government, but conveniently, after the prime minister ended up in front of the Deputies Liaison Committee, Downing Street announced that he had gone .
“It seems that Downing Street and the government are very interested in knowing that their plans will continue to violate international law and that was something that this law enforcement officer could no longer tolerate. It puts more pressure on other law enforcement officials, including the Attorney General Robert Buckland and Attorney General Suella Braverman “.
Last week, Northern Ireland Secretary Brandon Lewis told the House of Commons that the bill, if passed, will reinterpret the Northern Ireland Protocol – a key part of the withdrawal agreement – and thus violate international law “in a very specific and limited way.”
However, in the House of Lords on Tuesday, Lord Keen told his colleagues that the bill does not “constitute a violation of international law or the rule of law.”
He also claimed that Lewis had “essentially answered the wrong question” when asked about the bill in the Commons.
“I am satisfied with the correct legal position in this context,” Lord Keen said.
But on Wednesday morning, Lewis contradicted Lord Keen’s claim, saying his comments in the Commons last week were “absolutely in line” with the government’s legal advice on the matter.
He said: “I gave a very direct response to parliament last week in line with the attorney general’s position.
“My position is absolutely in line with the legal advice that the attorney general gave.”
Speaking to the House of Commons Committee on Northern Ireland Affairs, Mr Lewis added: “I read something very specific because I wanted to make sure that what I said … to make sure I was giving the House a direct response”.
In Brussels on Wednesday, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen used her annual State of the Union address to warn that the UK cannot unilaterally annul the withdrawal agreement.
“This withdrawal agreement took three years to negotiate and we worked tirelessly on it line by line, word for word, and together we achieved it,” he said.
“The European Union and the United Kingdom jointly agreed that it was the best and only way to ensure peace on the island of Ireland and we will never back down on that.
“This agreement has been ratified by this House and the House of Commons. It cannot be unilaterally changed, ignored, disapproved.
“It is a matter of law, trust and good faith.”
Ms Von der Leyen said that Margaret Thatcher had always insisted that the UK abided by its commitments under the treaty.
He quoted the former UK Prime Minister as saying: “Britain does not break treaties. It would be bad for Britain, bad for relations with the rest of the world and bad for any future trade treaty.”
Ms Von der Leyen added: “This was true then and it is true today. Trust is the foundation of any strong partnership.”
A senior official and the government’s most senior lawyer had already resigned over the dispute in Westminster over the UK’s internal market bill.
Sir Jonathan Jones, permanent secretary of the Government Legal Department, will leave his post before the end of his five-year term next April.
