Get Brexit (Re)Done

Is Brexit done? As the government unveils legislation to scrap parts of the Northern Ireland Protocol, the answer is a resounding no.

Talks between the UK and EU to resolve the problems with post-Brexit border checks are deadlocked. Ministers hope the sweeping changes included in the bill will help cut through the morass.

The legislation includes plans for goods entering NI from Great Britain to be split into two lanes – a check-free green lane if their final destination is Northern Ireland and a red lane for goods heading for the EU single market which would be subject to EU rules.

The bill would also end the role of the EU Court of Justice in policing the protocol, an arrangement that still rankles with those who wanted a clean break with the bloc. Instead, a “dual regulatory regime” would allow Northern Irish businesses to choose between meeting British or EU standards.

Boris Johnson downplayed all the fuss this morning, saying the bill was all about removing bureaucratic barriers and wasn’t a “big deal”.

But crucially, if passed, the law will allow ministers to ignore parts of the Protocol they don’t like, without running it by Brussels.

Critics – the EU foremost among them – say it amounts to a breach of international law, one that tears up an agreement that Johnson’s own government signed just two years ago.

Micheál Martin, the Irish Taoiseach, accused the UK of “reneging” on the Brexit deal. Sinn Fein called the plan “utterly reckless” which would have a “colossal impact” on the Northern Irish economy.

The line taken by the government is that the Protocol needs to be fixed urgently to save the Good Friday agreement. Boris Johnson blames the Stormont government’s collapse on the Protocol, saying this morning that said Britain has a “higher and prior legal commitment” to ensure peace in Northern Ireland.

But the legislation isn’t sitting well with some Conservatives. A briefing note circulated by Tory MPs opposed to the bill said it was “damaging to everything the UK and Conservatives stand for”.

In response to the announcement, the EU said it will restart legal action. It has previously threatened a trade war if the UK changes the Protocol unilaterally.

The government’s controversial move is designed in part to appease the DUP, which loathes the current arrangement. The party is playing hard-ball, vowing not to allow a devolved government to form as long as the border in the Irish Sea remains in place.

It’s yet to be seen whether the new legislation will be enough to change DUP minds, although a government source told the Times that Unionists would be expected by ministers to re-enter power-sharing if and when the Bill gains approval in the Commons and before it enters the Lords (where it’s expected to meet stiff resistance).

The legislation will take months for it to become law as it’s batted back and forth between MPs and peers. Some in Brussels see the threat of unilateral action as a crude negotiating tactic, which will hang over talks in the coming weeks.

All eyes are now on the European Commission, which is expected to outline further “flexibilities” around its own plans to reform the Protocol. Just how flexible they choose to be will determine whether Brexit ever gets done.