Britain’s messy exit from the European Union came crashing back into the headlines this week with an apparent head-on assault by U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson on the terms of the withdrawal agreement signed with Brussels earlier this year, an assault that could put in jeopardy any trade deal with Europe or the United States, and possibly even the integrity of the United Kingdom itself.
New legislation introduced Wednesday in Parliament seeks to unilaterally overturn one of the key provisions of the bilateral agreement reached in January with Brussels, a mandatory customs border between Northern Ireland and the rest of the U.K. if no free trade deal is agreed between London and the EU at the end of this year. Even Northern Ireland Secretary Brandon Lewis admitted that the proposed new legislation breaks international law, if only in a “specific and limited way,” drawing fierce criticism from senior Conservatives, including former Prime Minister Theresa May, as well as Brussels. The EU has given Britain until the end of the month to amend the newly introduced legislation.
