Michael Gove has warned the EU that “no option is off the table”, including ignoring parts of the Northern Ireland protocol, after the UK argued the solution put forward by Brussels last October would worsen food shortages.
Gove, a senior cabinet minister, said it would not amount to tearing up the protocol but he left open the possibility that the UK could pass legislation to disapply parts of the controversial framework.
Talks between the UK and EU are at a standstill over the protocol, which aligns Northern Ireland more closely on regulations and trade with the EU than the rest of the UK – putting a border down the Irish Sea.
Talks between the UK and the EU about the protocol are about to resume following a pause for the Northern Ireland elections but Brussels is adamant that the protocol itself cannot be renegotiated.
Jeffrey Donaldson, the DUP leader, raised the stakes on Wednesday by saying his party may paralyse not only the executive at Stormont but also the assembly.
It had been widely assumed the DUP would back the nomination of an assembly speaker on Friday, which would let the legislative body function even without an executive, but Donaldson told the BBC the party may block even this limited role for Stormont. “We will need to make a decision on that,” he said.
Donaldson said Downing Street’s latest warnings on the protocol showed it was heeding DUP concerns. “I think the pressure we’ve applied is beginning to have an impact.”
The DUP leader also confirmed he would not take his Stormont assembly seat and would remain at Westminster as an MP unless the protocol was changed. A ban on double-jobbing obliged him to choose. Donaldson’s decision was viewed as an indication that he expected no swift resolution to the Stormont deadlock.
Speaking on BBC Breakfast on Wednesday, Gove said: “We are going to negotiate with the EU in order to get the best possible outcome for the people of Northern Ireland, but no option is off the table.
“You would expect a UK government when it is thinking about the security of the entire United Kingdom to say that there is no option that is off the table and that is absolutely right.”
It comes after Truss, the foreign secretary, criticised proposals put forward by the EU last October for “failing to properly address the real issues affecting Northern Ireland and in some cases would take us backward”.
Truss said prices had risen, trade was being badly disrupted, and the people of Northern Ireland were subject to different laws and taxes than those over the Irish Sea, which she said posed a threat to peace and stability.
“The answer cannot be more checks, paperwork and disruption. Our preference has always been for a negotiated solution but will not shy away from taking action to stabilise the situation in Northern Ireland if solutions cannot be found,” she said.
Boris Johnson is backing Truss, making clear to the Irish taoiseach, Micheál Martin, on Tuesday that the situation with the protocol was “very serious”.
But the EU has responded to her threats to disapply parts of the protocol by ruling out any renegotiation.
Šefčovič, the European Commission vice-president responsible for post-Brexit relations, said: “From the very beginning, the EU has worked tirelessly to propose creative and durable solutions, showing flexibility on how the protocol should be implemented.
“The protocol, as a cornerstone of the withdrawal agreement, is an international agreement. Its renegotiation is not an option. The European Union is united in this position.”
Source: The Guardian