LONDON (AP) — British Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s efforts to scrap parts of the trade deal he signed with the European Union after Brexit have cleared their first hurdle in Parliament, despite warnings from critics that the move It is illegal.
In a vote Monday night, lawmakers gave their initial approval by 295 votes to 221 for a bill that allows British authorities to rewrite trading rules for Northern Ireland. The vote paves the way for the text to undergo detailed scrutiny in the coming weeks.
If passed, the legislation would remove controls on goods entering Northern Ireland from the rest of the UK, bypassing parts of the trade deal Johnson signed before Britain left the EU in 2020.
The British government says the rules, known as the Northern Ireland Protocol, cause complications for businesses and undermine peace in Northern Ireland. London alleges that its unilateral decision is justified under international law due to the “genuinely exceptional situation”.
Critics – including Johnson’s predecessor, Theresa May – say the move is illegal and seriously damages Britain’s international reputation as “a country that keeps its word”.
“As a patriot, I would not want to do anything to diminish this country in the eyes of the world,” May told Parliament.
“I must tell the government that this bill is not, in my opinion, legal under international law,” he added. “It will fall short of its goals and it will undermine Britain’s position in the eyes of the world, and I cannot support it.”
The EU has threatened to retaliate against Britain if it goes ahead with its plan to rewrite the rules of the divorce deal, raising the risk of a trade war between the two major trading partners.
Johnson has said that if Parliament works together, the plan could become law by the end of the year. The government wants to speed up the bill’s passage before lawmakers take their summer recess.
Northern Ireland is the only part of the UK that shares a border with an EU country, Ireland. When Britain left the European Union and its borderless free trade area, the two sides agreed to keep the Irish land border free of customs posts and other controls, because an open border is a key pillar of the peace process that ended decades of violence in Northern Ireland.
Instead, to protect Europe’s single market, there are controls on some goods, such as meat and eggs, entering Northern Ireland from the rest of the UK.
Johnson’s Conservative government claims that overzealous enforcement by the EU is causing the rules not to work as intended and causing a political crisis in Northern Ireland.
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