British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said on Saturday that the European Union was threatening to establish a "
food blockade
" in Northern Ireland, thus justifying his reversal on the Brexit deal in the face of criticism raining within his own party.
Read also: Brexit: BoJo reiterates the threat of a "no deal"
While in Brussels negotiations to avoid a "
no deal
" on January 1 remain at an impasse, London blamed Brussels for the origin of the dispute which has poisoned a new negotiating session this week and casts a shadow over those negotiations. scheduled for next week.
The discord erupted when the British government presented a bill to Parliament on Wednesday that partly contradicts the agreement already signed on its exit from the EU - a move that violates international law, admitted Boris Johnson, but to which he says he was forced.
"
If we do not accept the conditions of the EU, the EU will use an extreme interpretation of the protocol of Northern Ireland to impose a full trade border there
" between the province and the rest of the kingdom, justified the First minister in a text published by the Daily Telegraph, sharply criticized within his own camp.
According to him, Brussels could not only impose customs duties on products arriving in the British province from the rest of the country, but also establish “
a blockade
” and prevent “
the transport of foodstuffs to Northern Ireland
”.
“
I have to say that we never seriously considered that the EU could use a treaty, negotiated in good faith, to blockade part of the UK or that they would actually threaten to destroy our economic integrity and territorial
”, accuses the conservative leader.
"Nonsense"
"
We disagree,
" write in the Sunday Times forthcoming Sunday former Prime Ministers Tony Blair and John Major, who led Britain in the 1990s peace talks.
"
The government's action does not protect the Good Friday agreement, it puts it in danger,
" he said in a four-handed text, calling
Boris Johnson's explanations
"
nonsense
".
"
The world is watching the UK in amazement (...) as the actions of this government shame it and embarrass our nation,
" they add.
According to a report published on Saturday by the Financial Times, several British officials had indeed warned Boris Johnson in January that the Brexit agreement he was about to sign carried this type of risk.
The question of the British province of Northern Ireland was for a long time one of the sticking points of the Brexit negotiations, London fearing the return to a physical border in Ireland, bloodied by three decades of "
Troubles
" until the signing of the Good Friday Peace Agreement in 1998.
The text finally signed provided for the British province to remain subject to certain European provisions for four years, in particular concerning trade.
But with the bill being considered by British MPs on Monday, London will be able to unilaterally take trade decisions there, contrary to what was initially agreed.
The situation then escalated, with the EU saying it would sue the UK if it did not withdraw its changes by the end of September.
On Friday night, European Parliament leaders threatened to veto any trade pact if London failed to deliver on its promises.
A no-deal Brexit will have "
very significant consequences for the British economy
", not for the EU, warned German Finance Minister Olaf Scholz on Saturday after a meeting with his European counterparts in Berlin.
According to European Commissioner Paolo Gentiloni, it is up to London to “
restore confidence
” with the EU.
It is in the name of this broken confidence that several rebel Conservative MPs threatened on Friday not to pass the bill, fearing that Boris Johnson's turnaround could damage the United Kingdom's international credibility.
On Twitter, Conservative MP Tobias Ellwood said the project "
already harms the UK brand
" as a country "
defender of international rules
".
"
We cannot leave the theoretical power to divide our country in the hands of an international organization
," Boris Johnson told them on Saturday, for whom it is "
vital
" to adopt the bill to "
put an end to this possibility
”.
The government wants to start examining its bill in the House of Commons as of Monday, where it has a majority of 80 seats.
