Former UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson today warned it would be a ‘big mistake’ to back down from pursuing the law that will allow the UK to unilaterally scrap the most controversial provisions of the protocol for the North Ireland.
Given the prospect that the current head of government, Rishi Sunak, will announce in the coming days an agreement with the European Union (EU) to amend certain aspects of the Brexit treaty by mutual agreement, a spokesperson for Johnson told the media that “their general opinion is that it would be a grave mistake to abandon the law” which allows for a unilateral course.
“If we can find a satisfactory way to resolve the issues with the protocol, then we won’t need the legislation,” a government spokesperson told ‘Sky News’.
Johnson’s warning was interpreted as a warning of a potential rebellion by the more Eurosceptic wing of the Conservatives if they felt Sunak was making too many concessions to Brussels.
The “Tory” James Duddridge, former Secretary of State for International Trade, assured the British channel that up to a hundred MPs could oppose an agreement.
“There will be a large number of Brexiteers (against), perhaps the majority of the parliamentary group,” he said.
In the event that a possible agreement with Brussels is put to a vote in parliament, the Labor Party, the first of the opposition, has argued that it will offer the necessary support for it to be approved, which opens the way for Sunak.
Conservative Party sources told The Times newspaper that the former prime minister had been a ‘nuisance’ and had acted ‘maliciously’ in encouraging the Northern Ireland Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) to reject a possible deal.