Boris Johnson‘s warnings over agreeing a new Brexit deal for Northern Ireland will keep up pressure on the EU, a Cabinet minister has suggested.
Penny Mordaunt, the Leader of the House of Commons, said the ex-prime minister’s intervention over the Northern Ireland Protocol was not ‘completely unhelpful’.
Allies of Mr Johnson have this weekend cautioned the Government against abandoning proposed legislation at Westminster that would unilaterally scrap elements of the Protocol.
They have also warned PM Rishi Sunak against approving a deal to allow the European Court of Justice a role in deciding on issues related to Northern Ireland.
It comes as Mr Sunak appears on the verge of striking a fresh deal with Brussels to resolve the bitter dispute over the Protocol, with claims an agreement could be presented to MPs as soon as this week.
Penny Mordaunt, the Leader of the House of Commons, said the ex-prime minister’s intervention over the Northern Ireland Protocol was not ‘completely unhelpful’
Allies of Boris Johnson have this weekend cautioned the Government against abandoning proposed legislation at Westminster that would unilaterally scrap elements of the Protocol
Rishi Sunak appears on the verge of striking a fresh deal with the EU to resolve the bitter dispute over the Protocol, with claims an agreement could be presented to MPs this week
The Northern Ireland Protocol Bill was designed by Mr Johnson to allow the UK to override current post-Brexit rules for trade across the Irish Sea, in the absence of a negotiated deal with the EU.
In his first intervention over Brexit since leaving No10, a source close to the ex-PM said Mr Johnson thought it would be ‘a great mistake’ for Mr Sunak to drop the contentious legislation.
But, rather than proving a headache for the PM, Ms Mordaunt suggested Mr Johnson’s warning was an assistance to Mr Sunak.
‘Well, Boris is being Boris,’ she told Sky News. ‘But I wouldn’t say this is a completely unhelpful intervention.
‘The PM, I think, will acknowledge that having the Northern Ireland Protocol Bill there, having the work that the former prime minister did, has helped us get where we are.
‘But it’s always been our preference to try and have a negotiated settlement and that is what everyone is working to.’
The Northern Ireland Protocol, which created economic barriers on trade being shipped from Great Britain to Northern Ireland, was negotiated as part of Mr Johnson’s Brexit deal.
But, while in office, the former PM hit out at the EU’s ‘bureaucratic’ implementation of the agreement and undertook efforts to reverse the Protocol.
The row between the UK and the EU deepened when Mr Johnson brought forward the legislation to the Commons to unilaterally scrap parts of the agreement without Brussels’ consent.
Mr Sunak has since stalled progress of the Northern Ireland Protocol Bill through Parliament as he bids to strike a negotiated settlement with Brussels.
The Government has indicated that a successful outcome would mean the Bill would no longer be required.
But a source close to Mr Johnson said: ‘His general thinking is that it would be a great mistake to drop the Northern Ireland Protocol Bill.’
Responding to the warning, Ms Mordaunt this morning said: ‘The intervention by a source close to the previous PM is helpful to remind the EU of that Bill, and what this deal actually has to deliver.’
She also stressed that any deal to fix the Protocol must be supported by the DUP, suggesting it would not work if the ECJ retains an oversight role.
Lord Mandelson warns Boris Johnson is ‘trying to wreck’ Northern Ireland deal
Lord Mandelson today accused Boris Johnson of ‘trying to wreck’ any deal to fix the Northern Ireland Protocol in a bid to undermine Rishi Sunak.
Asked about the ex-PM’s intervention, the Labour peer said: ‘There’s nothing that Boris Johnson is doing now or, indeed, throughout our recent history with the EU that could possibly be described as helpful.
‘He’s wrecking, he’s trying to wreck the thing because he’s opposed to the PM.
‘He wants and his supporters want to undermine the PM.’
Lord Mandelson, a former Northern Ireland secretary and one of the architects of New Labour, said he hoped Mr Johnson would remove ‘himself entirely from this matter’.
‘A period of silence on his part I think would be welcome,’ he added.
The DUP have repeatedly blocked power-sharing government in Northern Ireland as part of their protest against the Protocol and set seven tests for a revised agreement between the UK and EU.
‘Unless this deal is satisfactory to all communities in Northern Ireland, it won’t be possible, it’s not going to work,’ Ms Mordaunt added.
‘The DUP’s tests that they have referred to are not a random wishlist, they are promises that we have made to the people of Northern Ireland.
‘That is the bar that this deal has to get over and and I know that the PM is completely focused on that.’
When it was put to her that the DUP’s seven tests include no role for the ECJ, Ms Mordaunt replied: ‘The PM is focused on removing those practical difficulties, but he has also been talking about the democratic deficit.
‘He’s been talking about ensuring that the people of Northern Ireland through their representatives are able to have a say on any future regulation that they might be subject to.’
Tory MP Sir James Duddridge, a former Brexit minister and a close ally of Mr Johnson, has insisted a Protocol deal involving a role for the ECJ would be a ‘wedge’ to a real Brexit.
In a warning to Mr Sunak of a parliamentary revolt over the issue by Conservative backbenchers, he told the Telegraph: ‘The PM would be unwise to put his own neck on the chopping block.
‘It won’t just be 28 ‘spartans’ voting against this, it will be a large number of Brexiteers, plus a number who don’t see him as the future, plus a number who perhaps were pro-Remain but think Brexit needs to be delivered.
‘It’s not a small minority, it is getting into the majority of the parliamentary party, certainly into treble figures.’
Despite growing expectations of an imminent announcement by the PM on a Protocol deal, Mr Sunak yesterday appeared to play down the prospect of the UK and EU being on the verge of unveiling a finalised agreement.
‘There are still challenges to work through. We have not resolved all these issues,’ he said at the Munich Security Conference, where he held talks with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen.
‘No, there isn’t a deal that has been done, there is an understanding of what needs to be done.’
