Dispute with EU: Ex-Johnson adviser claims London never wanted to comply with the Northern Ireland Protocol

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Still friends in autumn 2019: Prime Minister Boris Johnson (left) with his advisor Dominic Cummings

Photo: DANIEL LEAL-OLIVAS / AFP

Since Dominic Cummings is no longer at the side of British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, the former chief advisor has hardly missed an opportunity to portray the government in London in a bad light.

Now he has revealed an alleged strategy for the Brexit negotiations.

London never intended to keep the Brexit agreements with the EU on Northern Ireland, tweeted Cummings.

The plan was to reach an agreement with Brussels in the exit talks in order to win the 2019 general election, and then "get rid of the parts that we don't like," wrote the once second most powerful man in the London seat of government Downing Street on Twitter.

The British Brexit Minister David Frost had previously demanded in a speech from the EU that the Northern Ireland Protocol, which he negotiated himself less than two years ago, should be replaced by a new agreement. "The protocol isn't working," said Frost, threatening to partially override the agreement through an emergency mechanism. However, he stressed that despite doubts, the UK government had initially tried to implement the protocol.

"He's got to say that!" Cummings commented on Frost's assurances that the agreement was signed in good faith.

In any case, he had never intended to keep the agreement.

Cummings, who left the government in a dispute at the end of last year, couldn't resist a swipe at his former boss Johnson: Johnson "obviously never understood what the hell was going on."

Trouble about the Northern Ireland Protocol

The dispute is now about the so-called Northern Ireland Protocol: Brussels and London had agreed on rules in the course of the British exit from the EU to prevent a hard border between the British province and the EU member Ireland.

However, this created a customs border between Northern Ireland and the rest of the UK, there were trade problems and sometimes empty supermarket shelves.

Cummings is considered the strategist behind the victory of the Brexit supporters in the EU referendum in 2016 and that of the Conservatives under Johnson in the 2019 general election. At times, he was considered the second most powerful man in the country.

However, at the end of last year, Johnson and his agent broke up.

Cummings had to leave - and since then he has repeatedly raised serious allegations against his former boss.

Speaking of Brexit, Cummings said no one could know if it was a good idea to leave the EU.

"I think anyone who claims to be certain about it has a screw loose," said the ex-advisor.

mrc / dpa