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The UK’s foreign secretary has defended controversial plans to scrap parts of the Northern Ireland protocol, insisting the action to address the “very severe” situation in the North cannot be delayed.
The European Union has threatened to retaliate with “all measures at its disposal” if the UK proceeds with new legislation overwriting sections of the Northern Ireland protocol, as announced on Tuesday.
Liz Truss told the Commons she intends to bring forward the Bill within weeks, in an effort to reduce “unnecessary bureaucracy” and protect the Belfast Agreement.
Asked about the move on Wednesday, she said it would be “very positive” if the UK and EU could negotiate a solution in parallel to the Bill’s progression through parliament, and write this into the legislation.
But she said the plans to rewrite parts of the deal to address the “very severe” situation in the North cannot be delayed.
She told Times Radio: “I’m absolutely clear that we can’t delay . . . delivering a solution in Northern Ireland. The situation is very severe.
“The Executive hasn’t been formed since February. And we’re only going to be able to get it back up and running, to get the Belfast Agreement working again, by delivering this solution.”
Ms Truss has insisted the proposals to reform the deal are “consistent with our obligations in international law”.
The foreign secretary stressed the importance of making “sensible, pragmatic changes” to the protocol.
She told Sky News: “The reality is it isn’t working on the ground. It has created political instability in Northern Ireland.”
She said she wants the EU to “come to the negotiating table” so a “pragmatic solution” can be agreed together.
“But if that doesn’t happen we do need to move ahead delivering this solution for the people of Northern Ireland,” she said.
Adults in the room
Speaking about Ms Truss’s announcement on the protocol on Tuesday, Tánaiste Leo Varadkar said Ireland is going to be “the adults in the room” when it comes to negotiations.
Speaking to Newstalk Breakfast he said it was difficult to know if the UK government could be trusted or if they would honour any agreement or concessions made.
“Brexit causes extra checks, extra costs and extra bureaucracy,” he said.
The protocol should remain in place, he said, and Ireland was happy to help come up with solutions. However, there was an atmosphere of mistrust and there was concern that any agreement could be breached.
“There is an urgent need to rebuild trust,” he said.
British prime minister Boris Johnson needed to understand what would happen to the union if solutions that were not wanted were imposed, Mr Varadkar said. That was minority rule and could drive people towards nationalism.
He added there had been very little engagement by the UK in recent months.
Mr Varadkar said there could be a trusted trader system which would allow certain goods to be sent from the UK to Northern Ireland by chain stores without checks.
He also said the absence of the Executive was having an impact and that it was really important that it gets up and running.
On Tuesday, European Commission vice-president Maros Sefcovic criticised the UK’s plan and warned that Brussels could retaliate.
Should the UK proceed with the Bill, the EU will respond with “all measures at its disposal”, he said.
The row over the treaty has created an impasse in efforts to form a devolved government administration in Belfast, with the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) refusing to join an Executive unless its concerns over the situation are addressed.
DUP leader Sir Jeffrey Donaldson said Tuesday’s move was “welcome if overdue”, and a “significant” step towards getting power-sharing in Northern Ireland back up and running. – PA