British government initiates process of formally reneging on Brexit Protocol

The British government has initiated the process of formally reneging on the Brexit Withdrawal Agreement with the introduction of unilateral legislation to “disapply” parts of the protocol on trade in the north of Ireland.

The British government has initiated the process of formally reneging on the Brexit Withdrawal Agreement with the introduction of unilateral legislation to “disapply” parts of the protocol on trade in the north of Ireland.

The move upends several years of delicate international diplomacy and is likely to trigger international legal actions, sanctions and a trade war against the British government.

At Westminster this afternoon, Britain’s Foreign Affairs Minister Liz Truss (pictured, right) confirmed the plan to rip up the deal to take Britain out of the EU, signed by Boris Johnson amid considerable fanfare in December 2020 (left).

Informing Westminster of the decision to override the Brexit accords on the north of Ireland, she said the Belfast Executive has not been functioning because the protocol does not have the support of unionists.

It follows the decision of the hardline unionist DUP to block the return of the Stormont Assembly and Executive after Sinn Féin won the Six County elections earlier this month. A clear majority of Assembly members returned in the election support the retention of the Protocol as negotiated.

It also follows a high-profile visit to Belfast by Johnson on Monday in which he sought to justify the huge u-turn and its dangerous one-way concession to unionists.

Johnson’s unilateral action to welch on the Brexit deal has renewed the threat of a remilitarised border through Ireland, a long-standing goal of the DUP and right-wing Tories who have backed Brexit as a means of reinforcing the partition of the island.

The British government has ironically claimed the move is an attempt to uphold the 1998 Good Friday peace deal.

Sinn Féin leader Mary Lou McDonald said that by supporting the DUP, the British government was helping to block the operation of the Six County institutions. She also hit out at Johnson’s claims to be seeking to “fix” the Protocol.

“It’s become increasingly clear that Boris Johnsons actions are all part of a choreographed and disgraceful set of events designed to give cover to the DUP,” she said.

“That is not acceptable. Nobody has a veto on progress and the blocking of the Executive shouldn’t be tolerated for even one day longer.”

She said “the man who negotiated the Protocol” was introducing the legislation “to break the law and create further instability and undermine the Good Friday Agreement.

“The outcome of this month’s election must be respected, and we need to get the Executive formed without any further delay.”