Boris Johnson is facing the prospect of new legal action from the European Union (EU) as well as a fresh rebellion from within his own party after he announced plans to tear up the complex trade arrangements agreed for Northern Ireland as part of his Brexit deal.
The prime minister’s new Northern Ireland Protocol Bill, published on Monday, would give ministers sweeping new powers to override an agreement Mr Johnson himself signed just three years ago, while also granting new powers to the UK over tax and state subsidies in the region without oversight from the EU.
