‘Putting us at risk’ EU’s plot to take Brexit Britain ‘backwards’ slammed as tensions soar – Express

Speaking ahead of introducing the historic Northern Ireland legacy bill tomorrow, he said: I find it strange that the EU keep saying they have shown flexibility when you find what they say is that they will flex from a fully implemented protocol which is quite disingenuous because we dont have a fully implemented protocol.

What they are proposing would actually take us backwards from where we are today and that is just not fair on the businesses and people of Northern Ireland.

Fundamentally the way the EU has sought to implement the EU I would argue actually breaches the core purpose of the protocol.

This is a document which was supposed to protect the Good Friday Agreement but it is now the document that is putting it at risk.

There is a point where the EU arent going to show flexibility when the UK Government has to make a decision about how to rectify these problems for UK citizens in a part of the UK.

Over the last couple of weeks particularly after they said they are not going to show flexibility now, the Foreign Secretary [Liz Truss] rightly made the point that these negotiations arent progressing so it is right we resolve this.

He insisted that the bill announced by Ms Truss last week is not just a threat and will be taken through Parlament but added that it is a twin track approach with talks if the EU wants to engage.

We are open to engage with the EU but we have to do what is right for the citizens of the UK.

Friends of Mr Lewis recently revealed that having been a remainer in the 2016 referendum his experience of the EU has put him on the pro-Brexit side of the argument.

And he admitted that he has been shocked by the EUs intransigence.

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He said: I have been disappointed by the lack of flexibility for the last 12 months.

Even when we took the grace period extension last year [for food and other essential supplies] they didnt disagree with the principle of what we were doing, they just complained that we hadnt done it by agreement.

To do something by agreement the other side eventually has to agree and stop just talking.

Particularly where you are talking about chilled meats where if you dont take action you end up with empty shelves which is where we were last year.

He also accused the EU of not following the Protocol agreement itself and taking a very one sided view of it.

Mr Lewis pointed out that the deal was meant to respect the daily lives of communities, all aspects of the Good Friday Agreement, the UK internal market and state functions and the EU single market.

The only thing of the five things the document says would be respected that it works for is the EU Single Market, he said.

We have got to make sure the other four match up to that.

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'Putting us at risk' EU's plot to take Brexit Britain 'backwards' slammed as tensions soar - Express