he prime minister’s desire to override parts of the Northern Ireland protocol in the UK-EU withdrawal agreement has caused something of a storm. Boris Johnson’s critics question why he did not previously spot any flaws in his “oven-ready deal”; moreover, whatever the problems, to unilaterally try to amend an international treaty would be a breach of international law, with all that implies.
The prospective assault on international law has been confirmed by the Northern Ireland secretary, Brandon Lewis. Mr Lewis told the House of Commons that the move will indeed break international law “in a limited and specific way”. He has claimed precedent in the 2013 Finance Act making provision to deal with tax dodging and vary international agreements unilaterally. That has been denied by George Osborne, the chancellor of the time. People on both sides have offered interpretations of various clauses in the UK-EU withdrawal agreement that might justify the government’s actions. However, some of the arbitration procedures have still to be agreed.
There are, in fact, a number of ways the government’s bid to override the withdrawal agreement can be stopped.
