Daily Archives: July 3, 2022

1. Northern Ireland: Post-Brexit Bill to Get Second Reading in House of Commons  Bloomberg
2. 'No other PM would have done this!' Boris blasted over Brexit - UK 'protagonist' in EU row  Express
3. UK bill to switch off Northern Ireland Brexit rules clears first hurdle  POLITICO Europe
4. Johnson's move to rewrite Brexit rules clears 1st hurdle  ABC News
5. NI Protocol: MPs to vote on plans to ditch parts of Brexit deal  BBC
6. View Full Coverage on Google News

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Northern Ireland: Post-Brexit Bill to Get Second Reading in House of Commons - Bloomberg

Twenty-four years ago, people from across the island of Ireland came out in huge numbers to vote in support of the Good Friday (Belfast) agreement. Their vote was a clear vote against conflict and violence, to ensure that all children on the island of Ireland would be able to grow up in peace. This was a genuinely remarkable and defining moment.

The agreement was explicitly built on the principles of partnership, equality and mutual respect. Its defining legacy has been to commit everyone to pursue dialogue in order to resolve differences.

The EU played a vital role in the peace process. The architects of the agreement were keenly aware of the EU itself as a peace project one based on international cooperation and mutual understanding. To people across Ireland, EU membership and the single market opened a shared space where there was once division. Over the past three decades, the EU has invested more than 1.5bn in programmes for peace and cross-border cooperation.

When the UK took the decision to leave the EU, it was clear that both sides, the EU and the UK, would need to find a common solution to protect the Good Friday agreement and preserve the precious peace for all people.

That solution, reached through long and hard negotiations, is the Northern Ireland protocol.

It is the solution that the British government agreed to two years ago.

It expressly recognises Northern Irelands constitutional status and the principle of consent as set out in the Good Friday agreement.

Crucially, we also wanted to give Northern Ireland continued access to the EU single market of more than 450 million consumers.

Concluding the withdrawal agreement and the protocol paved the way for finalising the EU-UK trade and cooperation agreement.

People and businesses in Northern Ireland are benefiting from this every day. Figures show that Northern Irelands economy is recovering more quickly from the pandemic than most other regions in the UK. Interest in investing in Northern Ireland is at an all-time high, with companies winning contracts because of their single-market access. We look forward to seeing Northern Irelands businesses in key sectors, such as manufacturing, dairy and the food industry, grow further through these opportunities.

Throughout the negotiations, the EU has listened attentively to the views of citizens and businesses most impacted, including those in the unionist community.

And we not only listened. Having heard genuine concerns from people in Northern Ireland, the EU brought forward proposals to simplify the movement of goods between Great Britain and Northern Ireland, changed its own laws to address concerns around the supply of medicines, and committed to giving stakeholders in Northern Ireland a greater say in how the protocol works.

This package struck a fair and reasonable balance between two key imperatives: to fully respect the letter and spirit of the Good Friday agreement, thereby protecting the gains of the peace process; and to maintain the high standards, including of public and food safety, that EU citizens expect from the single market.

Unfortunately, the British government chose not to engage in good faith with these proposals. Instead of the path of partnership and dialogue, it has chosen unilateralism.

There is no legal or political justification for unilaterally breaking an international agreement entered into only two years ago. The tabling of legislation will not fix the challenges around the protocol. Instead, it will create a new set of uncertainties and make it more challenging to find durable solutions.

We know and understand that the people of Northern Ireland want certainty, stability and predictability, for their future and the future of their children. We saw this in the recent assembly elections, where 52 of the 90 MLAs elected are supportive of the protocol.

That is why the EU stands by the protocol and why its proposals remain on the table. We are open to being flexible and creative because we believe the protocol can work to the benefit of all in Northern Ireland.

In these difficult times, as Russia is leading a ruthless war in Ukraine, breaking with our European peace order, the EU and UK must stand together as partners with shared values and a commitment to uphold and strengthen the rules-based international order.

We urge the British government to step back from their unilateral approach and show the same pragmatism and readiness to compromise the EU has shown.

By working together in partnership and with mutual respect common ground can be found and challenges, no matter how difficult, overcome.

Annalena Baerbock is Germanys minister for foreign affairs. Simon Coveney TD is Irelands minister for foreign affairs and defence

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Northern Ireland wants stability. Tearing up the Brexit agreement will put peace and prosperity at risk - The Guardian

The British economic debate is bewildering, marooned in a discourse in which the pivotal economic fact of 2022 is ignored. The chancellor and governor of the Bank of England will talk about the dangers of inflation, of the risk of a wage price spiral and the need for pay restraint but never about the escalating sterling crisis and what lies behind it. Nor will the opposition lay into them for their vows of silence equally anxious to avoid mentioning the dread word or its baleful economic impact.

But Brexit is not going away. It cannot be avoided. Last week, we learned that in the first three months of this year Britains current account deficit was the worst since records began in 1955. It stood at a stunning 8.3% of GDP the kind of deficit recorded by banana republics before they collapse into slump, banking crises and hyperinflation.

The figures are so terrifyingly bad that even a shaken Office for National Statistics cautions that it is uncertain about the quality of its own data. But the core reality cannot be dodged and revisions will impact only at the margins rather than reverse the story: real export volumes over the period are down 4.4% and import volumes up a gigantic 10.4%.

The apologists point to exploding energy costs, statistical vagaries, the ongoing distortions of Covid, weak world markets, supply chain effects. What cannot be mentioned is Brexit and the obvious depressive impact it is having on UK exports and inward investment flows. The refusal of the governor of the Bank of England, Andrew Bailey, even to acknowledge what is happening and why is beginning to be a source of lack of market confidence in itself. Independence was to give the Bank a voice, not to be the governments ever loyal dupe. The foreign exchange markets are increasingly shaken: sterling was once again weak, slipping below $1.20 on Friday, against $1.31 three months earlier. Britain is entering dangerous territory the economy is falling into recession, investment is flat, while inflation, high across the industrialised world because of the fallout from the war in Ukraine, is highest in the UK largely because of the weak pound, which has no support from any quarter.

Without full access to the EU single market and customs union our largest market there is no possibility of an export recovery, nor a recovery in inward investment, nor a lifting of economic confidence. As the Bank of America warns, Britain faces an existential sterling crisis, made worse because of the refusal of the government and many economic commentators to look the truth in the eye.

The eerie parallel is the 1976 sterling crisis, triggered by the conviction of the foreign exchange markets that already very high inflation was certain to get out of hand. There was nothing to prop up a falling pound, given the current account deficit was running at what seemed an unimaginable 4% of GDP half todays deficit.

The pound could not be steadied without buying time from the IMF with an enormous credit line. The government would then launch a package of tough spending cuts as the quid pro quo for the loan, fiercely resisted by the Labour lefts leaders Michael Foot and Tony Benn, which would simultaneously shrink the economy and thus the current account deficit. A floor would be put under sterling and therefore curb inflation, aided and abetted by a pay and incomes policy. The prime minister, James Callaghan, famously told a sullen Labour party conference that no other option existed, opening up irreconcilable arguments between its ultra left and social democratic wings that have plagued Labour ever since. But at least the UK was embedded in a network of strong trading relationships. Having just joined the Common Market, it could trade its way back to international creditworthiness, with North Sea oil soon reinforcing the impetus.

The task today is less fiscal belt-tightening and raising interest rates, although both may be forced upon us as sterlings fall accelerates: it is fully to reopen access to our largest market, the EU, to offer some prospect of export growth and inward investment. The strong economic performance that Northern Ireland is now experiencing within the single market needs to be reproduced across the kingdom.

A Tory prime minister, echoing Callaghan, is going to have to tell a sullen Tory party conference within the next couple of years that no other option exists that the alternative is ongoing high inflation, high interest rates, a property crash and economic stagnation. Impossible? Devaluing the pound inside the ERM or being forced out altogether seemed impossible in 1991 before it happened in 1992. Having to bail out the banking system seemed impossible in 2007 before it happened in 2008. The same inexorable forces are at work today and the consequent rows between the Tories pragmatic and its Brexit ultra wings will plague it for a generation too.

It was sad to see Tony Blair, trying to fashion a new political centre ground, insisting last week that the arguments over the EU are over. Brexit is done it wont be overturned for at least a generation, he said. It is not done. Radical centrism is not to identify what the centre right think and then to do it more nicely and more moderately, as the swarm of pollsters around him and the leader of the oppositions office seem to think. It is doing the right thing well and with conviction, around which the centre will coalesce.

Britain needs to be in the single market and customs union to have any prospect of price stability and growth. It needs to be within the political architecture of Europe for its own security, given the dark menace of Russia. And it needs to be within both to have any chance of holding Northern Ireland and Scotland in the union.

The British economic and political ship is foundering, damaged by the rock of Brexit; its captains need to be called out for their errant seamanship. A fundamental change of course is an imperative. The future political stars in both the Labour and Conservative parties are those with the courage to say so.

Will Hutton is an Observer columnist

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So the arguments over Brexit are done and dusted for a generation. Really, Tony Blair? - The Guardian

What do Brexit and the Swiss breakdown in relations with the EU have in common? According to a Swiss social historian, quite a lot.

Julie worked as a radio reporter for BBC and independent radio all over the UK before joining swissinfo.ch's predecessor, Swiss Radio International, as a producer. After attending film school, Julie worked as an independent filmmaker before coming to swissinfo.ch in 2001.

Switzerland has never been a European Union member but enjoys almost full access to the EUs internal market, thanks to 120 bilateral agreements. Attempts to update these with a new framework agreement collapsed in 2021 when the Swiss walked out of talks with the EU. The Financial Times dubbed the fallout Swexit in reference to Brexit, the divorce between the EU and the United Kingdom, as both countries had similar sticking points with the 27-country block.

To quote an FT editorialExternal link, Swexit is like Brexit in that two ancient democracies, chafing at the price tag and conditions of market access, have chosen a looser, more distant relationship.

SWI swissinfo.ch met up with Oliver Zimmer, a Swiss expert in modern European history, who takes a closer look at the similarities between the two countries in their troubled relations with the EU. Zimmer is in a good position to compare the two: he was a renowned Oxford University professor who recently returned to Switzerland after 27 years in the UK. He now works for CREMAExternal link, the Zurich-based Center for Research in Economics Management and the Arts.

When the Swiss framework agreement broke down, the government cited disagreements on salary protection, state aid rules and the access of EU citizens to Swiss social security benefits. The Swiss also dislike the idea of a dispute settlement mechanism in which the EU Court of Justice plays a role.

Zimmer says the EUs free movement of people agreement was a thorn in the side of both the UK and Switzerland, which expressed concern about citizens of poorer countries taking jobs and claiming benefits.

He adds that both countries were also worried about border control issues. Opponents of the framework agreement say it weakens Switzerlands national sovereignty and could be the first step toward creeping EU accession. Meanwhile, pro-Brexit advocates wanted Britain to take back control from European Union governments and bureaucrats. A UK government document External linkon the EU exit states: This deal takes back control of our borders, our laws and our money, and protects our economy, our security, and our United Kingdom.

In a June 2022 edition of the Economist, the magazine argues that Brexit has negatively impacted the UK economy, leading to lower business investment and exports, among other things. Nevertheless, according to the BBC,External link research suggests public attitudes on Brexit havenot shifted significantlysince the 2016 referendum. A majority would still vote to leave.

Businesses and economists in Switzerland have warned the end of the framework agreement would also have significant economic impactfor the Swiss as well. For a start, the EU hasdowngraded Switzerland to non-associate statusin the Horizon programme, which hands out grants and access to prestigious scientific projects. Yet, in its recent meetings with the EU to try to rescue the bilaterals, there was no obvious sign that Switzerland was prepared to compromise over the sticking points. It remains stuck.

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Swexit and Brexit: The UK and Switzerland's fall out with the EU - SWI swissinfo.ch in English

Reading about Brexit and its emerging realities on the sixth anniversary of the UK voting to leave the EU (Brexit is making cost of living crisis worse, new study claims, 22 June), I was reminded of the Hans Christian Andersen story The Emperors New Clothes. Here, the weavers persisted with the lie that they were creating the most fantastic set of clothes for the emperor. He believed them, despite the fact that there was no evidence of their existence. So certain was he of this false narrative that he led a public procession celebrating their wearing, only for a child to say: Hes got nothing on.

As Covid drifts away, along with the other excuses touted by the Brexit brethren, the businesses, farmers, fishers and scientists of Britain are now realising the horrible truth: Brexit was a fraud of giant proportions. Disconnecting from its neighbouring and biggest trading partner was always foolish and, in economic terms, suicidal.

The weavers of Brexit convinced voters that they would get their sovereignty back, even though they never lost it. They spun stories of incredible wealth generated from all sorts of magic trade deals, even though former British leaders such as Winston Churchill and Margaret Thatcher were exponents of a Europe that would make trade its central theme and that, along with a suite of rights-based initiatives based on proper human values, would outlaw war from within for future generations.

At least the emperor finally realised his folly. Its time the British people realised the same sooner rather than later.Samus BolandBallycumber, County Offaly, Ireland

On the sixth anniversary of the Brexit vote, a reminder of some of the points made by the Vote Leave campaign: If we vote leave, we can create a fairer, more humane immigration system. We can have a friendlier relationship with the EU based on trade. Well be free to trade with the whole world. We send more than 350m to the EU every week enough to build a modern hospital every week of the year. Heaven forbid that we were lied to, or did I just miss something?Mel WoodDublin

Labour is going to improve, not scrap the Brexit deal, says David Lammy (Report, 23 June). May I suggest an area for improvement? We took our border terrier to the vet last week in preparation for a holiday in the EU. At a cost of almost 200, we received a complex 10-page Animal health certificate for the non-commercial movement to a member state from a third country of dogs with some 22 official veterinary stamps. This was unnecessary before Brexit and, if a Labour government were willing to approach discussions with the EU constructively, is hardly likely to be considered necessary now.

For the future, the vets practical advice was to bypass the certificate and associated costs by obtaining a pet passport issued in the EU. Oh, that we humans could choose to take a similar approach. Steven LorberLondon

Would any of the Boris Johnson cheerleaders who praise his leadership on Ukraine and close relationship with its president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, care to explain why they maintain their disdain for the EU despite the clear advantages that Ukraine sees in becoming a member?Ian ArnottPeterborough

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Six years on, the cold reality of Brexit is hitting Britain - The Guardian

BALLYMENA, Northern Ireland, June 28 (Reuters) - Irwin Armstrong, a former chair of Boris Johnson's Conservative Party in Northern Ireland, has a simple message for the British Prime Minister when it comes to the province's unique post-Brexit trade rules: Don't ruin a good thing.

The founder of rapid test diagnostics maker CIGA Healthcare, who campaigned for Britain to leave the European Union six years ago, has described the so-called Northern Ireland Protocol as a gamechanger for manufacturing businesses like his.

Under the protocol, part of Britain's withdrawal agreement from the EU, Northern Ireland effectively remained in the EU's single market for goods as the rest of the United Kingdom (UK) departed last year.

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Since then, CIGA has won business from British exporters tied up in paperwork, expanded into new EU markets and doubled sales across the open border with EU-member Ireland.

"My message to Boris Johnson on the protocol is 'sort out what needs to be sorted out and leave the rest alone'," Armstrong said at his Ballymena factory, calling the arrangements "a win-win-win situation".

The protocol is far from universally popular, however.

Its aim was to avoid a land border with the Irish Republic that many would see as contravening the spirit of a peace deal 24 years ago that ended three decades of violence between mainly Catholic nationalists seeking unity with Ireland and Protestant unionists wanting to remain part of the UK.

But the perception that, by placing an effective border in the Irish Sea, the protocol is eroding Northern Ireland's place in the UK has sparked anger among many pro-British unionists, which Britain says is also undermining the 1998 peace pact.

Johnson has pledged to do away with large swathes of the protocol within months if he cannot convince the EU to remove checks on goods moving into Northern Ireland from the rest of the UK. read more

Northern Irish business groups have urged London not to act unilaterally, fearing the trade war it could unleash with the EU will take away the newfound competitive advantages firms such as Armstrong's enjoy. They want both sides instead to agree to ease the checks affecting other more consumer-facing firms. read more

Pre-protocol it took Lynas Foodservice, a major supplier of food in Northern Ireland, seven days to order a product like mozzarella cheese from their usual British supplier. Now it can take up to 14 and require eight different pieces of paperwork.

Longer lead times mean the Coleraine-based wholesaler has to hold more working capital - 11 million pounds versus 10 million before. With British suppliers also charging more per pallet for the hassle at their end, costs are being passed on to retailers.

Lynas has stopped trading with 13 of the around 200 British suppliers it previously relied on, and is sourcing more goods from Ireland and shipping others through Dublin to avoid some of the bureaucratic trade hurdles.

"I'm okay in a business of 650 staff to add that cost and work with our customers but I think for a lot of smaller businesses it's definitely been more difficult," Managing Director Andrew Lynas said.

Recent data showing that, alongside London, Northern Ireland is the only region in the UK where economic growth has surpassed pre-pandemic levels have led to some suggestions of a protocol-fuelled economic bounce.

Ulster Bank Chief Economist for Northern Ireland, Richard Ramsey, says it is not that straightforward as the economy went into the COVID-19 pandemic in a weaker state than the rest of the UK and benefited disproportionately from record government spending with one-in-four people employed in the public service.

"The protocol is presented as almost binary, it's either extremely good or it is terrible and needs to be done away with," Ramsey said. "The reality is there are good parts and there are a lot of grey areas which are still to be ironed out."

For now this has created a two-speed economy, he says, with sectors such as food manufacturing and pharmaceuticals booming at a time when economic surveys for May suggest the cost of living crisis is hitting Northern Ireland harder than most UK regions.

In the small town of Maghera, Crushing Screening Parts (CSP) owner Michael McGrath says the "good parts" of the protocol are directly responsible for a 32% year-on-year jump in revenues and plans to further add to his staff of eight.

Glancing at a screen showing potential customers from Poland and Germany are browsing the CSP website, which emphasises the benefits of the protocol in capital letters, McGrath says he can deliver a part to them by the next morning while it can take a rival British supplier at least two to three days.

As a result, the proportion of sales the maker of spare parts for the quarry sector has going to the EU have more than trebled to 33%. For McGrath the solution to the protocol riddle lies in the famous words of Bill Clinton 30 years ago: "It's the economy stupid".

"For Northern Ireland to be successful, it's all about the economy," he said. "The economy can really do well if the protocol is implemented correctly and to a level that we can all live with it."

(This story refiles to add dropped word in headline)

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Additional reporting and writing by Padraic Halpin; Editing by Alex Richardson

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

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Northern Ireland post-Brexit 'protocol' hurting some, a boon for others - Reuters UK

The BBC saw a 20 percent point drop in trust among viewers since 2018 as Ofcom this week directed the corporation to address a series of complaints about its management of complaints and lack of impartiality. While the broadcaster emerged as one of the most trusted news providers in the UK in a recent Press Gazette analysis, the company has been facing persistent criticism for its coverage of key issues, including the Brexit debate. BBC viewer John Huw Jones took particular issue with the perceived bias the BBC has towards Brexit supporters.

Writing to BBC Newswatch, Mr Jones said: "Since the 2016 referendum, I have been totally dismayed by the BBC bias against supporters of Brexit.

"The BBC was once renowned for its impartiality, but alas no more."

The corporation has been facing criticism about its coverage of the Brexit issue since the referendum campaign began in 2016.

Both the Remain and Leave camps have at times accused the broadcaster of being either too pro-Brexit or anti-Brexit.

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But lack of impartiality over Brexit was not the only issue raised over the past week, with one BBC viewer lamenting the lack of balance in the coverage of the US Supreme Court's reversal of the Roe v Wade decision recognising American women's right to abortion.

BBC viewerJanet Fillingham said: "I didn't keep a stopwatch record of balance but wish I had done.

"Perhaps you felt the shock value of the Supreme Court ruling was self-evident, and that balance wasn't needed?"

Former BBC Radio 4 controller Mark Damazer however rejected claims of impartiality, insisting that overall the BBC did a "good job" in ensuring impartial news coverage despite the large daily output.

READ MORE: Now ANOTHER crisis hits EU! Hundreds of tractors block the German/Netherlands border

Responding to Ofcom's finding, a spokesperson for the BBC cited independent research to hit back at claims Britons lack trust in the corporation.

They said: "Although we are never complacent, our own independent research shows that we saw a boost to perceptions of BBC News trustworthiness and impartiality during the pandemic.

"And BBC News is the source adults in the UK are most likely to turn to for impartial news on the biggest news stories of the day.

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'Bias against Brexit supporters! BBC viewer totally dismayed' over end of impartiality - Express

European Commission vice president Maros Sefcovic criticised Britain for the Northern Ireland Protocol Bill currently passing through Parliament. Calling the legislation "illegal", he said the Prime Minister was undermining UK-EU relations in the middle of the Ukraine war.

His remarks will do little to ease tensions between London and Brussels.

The new Brexit legislation will give ministers the power to overrule aspects of the Northern Ireland Protocol, introduced as part of the Brexit withdrawal agreement in 2019.

Ministers say they have been left with no choice but to take action to protect the integrity of the United Kingdom in the face of issues caused by the treaty.

Lashing out at the Government, Mr Sefcovic said this morning: "Given the challenges we face, including Russia's invasion of Ukraine, rising energy prices and pressures on the cost of living, it is more important than ever to strengthen Western unity.

READ MORE ON OUR BREXIT LIVE BLOG

"Stable, positive, even strategic relationship based on international agreements we have signed and ratified is in our mutual interest.

"We need co-operation and action to strengthen our bond and bring it to the qualitative level it deserves."

His comments were made on the same day the UK offered Ukraine a further 1billion in support to help fight Russia, bringing the total military and economic support to 3.8billion this year.

President Volodymyr Zelensky has repeatedly praised Britain for its leadership in standing up against Putin and the Kremlin.

He said earlier this month: "The war highlights who is our friend or friends as not just strategic friends, but real friends now. And I believe Great Britain is a friend.

"Arms, money, and sanctions, these are three things in which Great Britain consistently demonstrates its leadership."

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The Northern Ireland Bill was backed by MPs in its second reading in the House of Commons earlier this week.

MPs voted by 295 to 221 in favour of the legislation continuing to move forward in Parliament despite some Conservative backbenchers, including former prime minister Theresa May, joining Labour in parroting the EU's criticism of the plan.

They said the UK would be breaking international law by unilaterally changing the implementation of the Protocol and urged ministers to resume negotiations with Brussels.

Foreign Secretary Liz Truss has rejected the allegations saying there is "strong legal justification" for the legislation in the face of the problems being caused by the treaty.

The UK has been holding talks with Brussels since October on trying to find a negotiated solution to the Protocol but has failed to find a breakthrough.

Ms Truss said on Monday that the UK remained committed to trying to find a compromise with the EU and that the European Commission needed to be more accommodating in talks.

Mr Sefcovic today accused Ms Truss of failing to return to negotiations and said there was "serious concern" in Brussels about the Northern Ireland Protocol Bill.

"This was done despite our offer to return to the discussion table and seek joint solutions, which has been met by radio silence from the UK since February," he said.

"Such unilateral action is quite simply illegal.

"It is a breach of international law and is extremely damaging to mutual trust and respect between the EU and the UK.

"It is not for London to unilaterally change the game."

MPs are next set to debate the Protocol Bill on July 13.

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EU launches astonishing attack claiming Boris is helping PUTIN with his Brexit demands - Express

Former Labour Prime Minister Gordon Brown has warned Britain has "no chance" of signing a trade deal with Joe Bidens administration if the issues arising from the Northern Ireland conundrum are not solved with the European Union.

In an exclusive interview with Sky News Beth Rigby, he said: "Weve got to do is repair our trading relations. If we cannot repair our relations with Europe and America, were at war with both of them if you like for different reasons but all related"

Sky News Beth then cut him off, asking: "Why are we at war with America?"

"Well, were at war with America over Ireland because they will not sign a trade treaty as long as we cannot sort out the issues related to Ireland", Mr Brown said.

Sky News Beth Rigby interrupted, saying: "Actually, President Biden, I asked him about this explicitly last year, last September. And he said he thought the two things were separate. That there was a trade deal and that there was the Good Friday Agreement."

Gordon Brown hit back: "Well, he may think that. But the American Congress will not think that. Theres no chance of a trade deal between Britain and America unless we can sort out the problems that arise in Ireland."

And of course, theres no chance of getting better trade relationships with Europe unless we can sort these problems out, as well. And thats very much part of our future because if we cannot export to the leading markets in the world and cannot this successfully with these new industries and new technologies, then the cost-of-living crisis will be with us for years and not just temporarily," Mr Brown said.

Boris Johnsons Foreign Secretary Liz Truss has tried to fix the Northern Ireland conundrum with a Northern Ireland Protocol bill that will scrap the Irish Sea checks border.

The border issue came on top of the agenda when the DUP party refused to form a coalition with Sinn Fein after Mays election on the grounds the Irish Sea border would exacerbate the cost-of-living crisis in Northern Ireland and distance the province from Great Britain.

Liz Truss then unilaterally introduced the Northern Ireland Protocol Bill, which she succeeded in passing in the House of Commons.

Under Liz Truss Protocol bill, goods travelling from Great Britain to Northern Ireland would go through a green lane whereas goods destined to the EU would go through checks via a red lane while still leaving companies the option to abide by whichever rules they want.

READ MORE:'No chance of trade deal' Brown warns as Britain at 'war with US'

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'No chance of trade deal' Gordon Brown warns as Britain at 'war with US' over Brexit bill - Express