The leader of the Northern Irish Republican Party Sinn Fein on Sunday accused the British government of "
breaking international law
" with a bill modifying post-Brexit provisions in the province, believing that Boris Johnson is trying to restore his authority.
The British government will introduce in Parliament on Monday a text of law modifying certain elements of the Northern Irish protocol, negotiated within the framework of Brexit and at the heart of great tensions in the British province.
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For the EU, this amounts to going back on an international treaty and would justify trade retaliation.
Mary Lou McDonald, whose Sinn Fein party won the local elections for the first time on May 5, stressed that “
a significant majority
” of elected members of the Northern Ireland assembly “
support the protocol
” .
.
But the unionist party of Northern Ireland, the DUP, refuses to participate in a new government in Belfast if this protocol is not modified.
The British government, which supports the unionists, announced in mid-May its desire to legislate to modify it.
'Boosting Boris Johnson's ego'
"
The protocol
is working," hammered Mary Lou McDonald on
SkyNews
.
By modifying it unilaterally, the British government is preparing to “
violate international law
”.
The government's proposals are '
designed to boost the ego, leadership ambitions of Boris Johnson or any of his potential successors
', she said, as Boris Johnson tries to restore his authority after recently escaped a vote of no confidence from his own Conservative Party.
The British Minister for Northern Ireland, Brandon Lewis, assured the contrary that the government's project was "
legal
".
“
The text of the law that we will present tomorrow is in accordance with the law.
What we are going to do is legal and it is right
,” he defended on the same television channel.
The text aims to "
repair
" the problems caused by the implementation of the protocol in order to simplify trade between Great Britain and Northern Ireland and to appease the Unionists so that they agree to form a government.
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The protocol, concluded to protect the European single market, established a customs border in the Irish Sea to keep Northern Ireland in the customs orbit of the EU and avoid the creation of a land border between the British province and Ireland, a member of the EU.
The British government wants to introduce a new system so that goods circulating and remaining within the United Kingdom go through a "
new green channel
", freeing them from administrative procedures.
Goods destined for the EU will remain subject to all checks and controls applied under EU law.