The damage is done : government s threat of breaking Brexit agreement utterly disreputable , Jonathan Jones says
Top lawyer who resigned over internal market bill slams government s completely bonkers and hugely damaging approach
Photo: Paul Heartfield
Sir Jonathan Jones, who quit as the government’s top lawyer over its threat to use the internal market bill to back out of parts of the Brexit withdrawal agreement, has said the “damage is done” by the move despite a U-turn on the legislation.
The former head of the Government Legal Department resigned in September as the government was preparing to insert clauses into its internal market bill that Northern Ireland secretary Brandon Lewis admitted would allow it to breach international law “in a limited and specific way”.
Top Lawyer Who Resigned Over Law-Breaking Brexit Clause Has Criticised Government s ‘Bonkers And Hugely Damaging Approach’
23 December 2020
Sir Jonathan Jones, who quit as the government’s top lawyer over its threat to use the internal market bill to back out of parts of the Brexit withdrawal agreement, has said the “damage is done” by the move despite a U-turn on the legislation.
The former head of the Government Legal Department resigned in September as the government was preparing to insert clauses into its Internal Market Bill that Northern Ireland secretary Brandon Lewis admitted would allow it to breach international law “in a limited and specific way”.
No 10’s obsession with ideological purity is forcing the best civil servants to resign
Since 2015, the civil service system has fallen apart. Photograph: Chris Young/PA
Since 2015, the civil service system has fallen apart. Photograph: Chris Young/PA
Sat 19 Dec 2020 14.00 EST
Last modified on Sat 19 Dec 2020 16.26 EST
Alex Thomas would never dream of playing the victim or boasting that he’s a heroic “dissident” or “whistleblower”. As befits a British civil servant, understatement is his preferred style. The only public record of his decision to walk out of a government career that had seen him work for a cabinet secretary and help co-ordinate Britain’s response to Brexit is a piece called “Crossing the line” he published in the autumn.