BORIS JOHNSON is facing growing calls to scrap the Northern Ireland protocol, with Arlene Foster s online petition surging towards 100,000 votes, at which point it will trigger a debate in the House of Commons.
SHARING OPTIONS:
Meeting of the joint EU-UK committee for implementation of the protocol that is part of the UK withdrawal agreement on leaving the EU.
After claiming the high moral ground on Brexit since the UK voted to leave in 2016, the EU briefly decided last Friday to put its interests first and disregard the agreement reached on Northern Ireland (NI).
Thankfully, following intervention by the Irish and UK governments, a swift U-turn was performed and no operational damage was caused.
However, there has been reputational and relationship damage, which will take time to rebuild - but this isn’t impossible.
Northern Ireland’s First Minister called for calm amid the row over post-Brexit trade disruption as the region’s police chief warned people to step back from the brink of violence.
Arlene Foster stressed that frustrations must be channelled through constitutional means after Police Service of Northern Ireland chief constable Simon Byrne warned of a “febrile” atmosphere.
Mrs Foster’s sentiment was echoed by Irish premier Micheal Martin who said parties needed to “dial down the rhetoric” over the protocol amid tensions rising.
Inspections on animal-based produce arriving from Great Britain, which are required under Brexit’s contentious Northern Ireland Protocol, are currently suspended amid fears for the safety of staff.