Ministers DEFEND breaching international law over Brexit divorce deal

Boris Johnson has been accused of aping Donald Trump’s tactics in Brexit negotiations as ministers voiced defiance over breaking the terms of the divorce deal. 

The PM is facing a furious Tory mutiny amid claims he is trashing the UK’s moral authority by reneging on the Withdrawal Agreement, only signed in January.

Legislation due to be published today would unilaterally decide details that Brussels insists must be settled by a joint committee, including customs arrangements between mainland Britain and Northern Ireland.  

Northern Ireland Secretary Brandon Lewis sparked outrage yesterday by bluntly admitting that the measures will breach international law. 

But despite threats of ‘consequences’ from the EU, fellow Cabinet minister Matt Hancock insisted this morning that he is ‘comfortable’ with the move, because the government’s ‘primary’ duty is to protect the Peace Process. 

The UK’s former ambassador to the US has waded into the row by suggesting that the dramatic step is a Trump-style bid to get a better deal in post-Brexit trade negotiations, which are at a critical stage.

Lord Darroch said he suspected Mr Johnson was trying to ‘create chaos’ so he could extract better terms, and there was an ‘aspect of the way Donald Trump would have done it’. 

Former UK ambassador Lord Darroch said he suspected Boris Johnson was trying to ‘create chaos’ so he could extract better terms, and there was an ‘aspect of the way Donald Trump would have done it’ (PM and US president are pictured together last September’

Health Secretary Matt Hancock insisted he was comfortable with the move in the circumstances, saying the government's 'primary' duty was to protect the Peace Process in Northern Ireland - which is also underpinned by a treaty

Health Secretary Matt Hancock insisted he was comfortable with the move in the circumstances, saying the government’s ‘primary’ duty was to protect the Peace Process in Northern Ireland – which is also underpinned by a treaty

Michel Barnier arrived in London this morning as the EU and UK conduct a make or break round of negotiations on the future trade relationship

Michel Barnier arrived in London this morning as the EU and UK conduct a make or break round of negotiations on the future trade relationship

Boris Johnson, pictured in Whitehall yesterday, is due to hold a press conference later when he could be grilled about the situation

Boris Johnson, pictured in Whitehall yesterday, is due to hold a press conference later when he could be grilled about the situation

Brussels threatened to make food exports from Great Britain to Northern Ireland illegal  

Michel Barnier’s team made threats to make food exports from Great Britain to Northern Ireland illegal if the UK did not bow to their trade deal demands, it emerged today.

The chief negotiator’s warning prompted the government to make legal changes to the Withdrawal Agreement, according to the Sun. 

Under the deal, the export of products of animal origin, including meat, fish, shellfish, eggs and dairy from the UK mainland to Northern Ireland will be subject to EU oversight.

After Brussels warned the UK might not be on an approved list in the event of a No Deal, ministers demanded new domestic legislation in the Withdrawal Agreement, to avoid exports being made illegal.   

There are claims that the move was sparked by a threat from EU negotiator Michel Barnier, who arrived in London this morning for make or break trade talks, to block food exports from Britain to the province unless the government capitulates in trade talks.

But anger in Brussels is rising at the situation, with European Parliament president David Sassoli warning of ‘serious consequences’ and MEPs raging that the idea of being ‘half legal’ is equivalent to being ‘half pregnant’. 

In a round of interviews this morning, Mr Hancock said: ‘The government has a number of international obligations.

‘The primary amongst those in this context is protecting the Peace Process. That is about safety and security too.’ 

Downing Street had previously sought to play down controversy over the Internal Market Bill legislation, which is being published today and will limit the role of the EU in Northern Ireland after Brexit. 

It said ‘limited clarifications’ were needed to protect the Peace Process if talks on a trade deal break down.  

However, the controversy escalated dramatically yesterday when Mr Lewis was asked directly whether the Government’s proposals were illegal.

He replied: ‘Yes, this does break international law in a very specific and limited way.’ 

Whitehall sources said there was ‘strong precedent’ for the UK occasionally breaching treaty obligations in exceptional circumstances, such as the refusal to give prisoners the vote.  

But Mr Lewis’s comments triggered a backlash led by former prime minister Theresa May and prompted warnings the move could undermine fragile hopes of a Brexit trade deal.

Earlier, the row prompted the resignation of Sir Jonathan Jones, head of the Government’s legal department.

Sir Jonathan gave no public reason for his decision to quit, but a former colleague said: ‘He is not someone who has ever wanted to push himself into the limelight. If he has done this, it demonstrates that he must see what they are doing as a terrible insult to the law.’

Last night there were rumours that Scotland’s Advocate General, Lord Keen, was also considering quitting.

The Attorney General’s office confirmed that its director general, Rowena Collins Rice, was leaving, but insisted it was unrelated. 

Attorney General Suella Braverman and Justice Secretary Robert Buckland also faced calls to quit. But sources said both ministers would stay.

Asked by Times Radio if he was comfortable with a minister saying the UK was willing to break international law, Mr Hancock replied: ‘I am.’

He said: ‘The primary international obligation around this issue is to protect the peace process in Northern Ireland and I very much hope we conclude a deal before the end of the transition period.

‘I think that we will and it is in everybody’s interest to do so as we did last time, but I also understand why ministers have chosen to prioritise at the absolute top of that the importance of protecting the peace process in Northern Ireland.’

Foreign Affairs Committee chair Tom Tugendhat warned that the action could undermine the UK’s moral authority in its dealing with countries like China. 

PM copying Trump’s tactics, says former US ambassador  

The UK’s former ambassador to Washington has said he wonders if there is an ‘aspect of the way Donald Trump would have done it’ about Boris Johnson’s handling of Brexit talks.

Lord (Kim) Darroch referred to comments made by Mr Johnson in 2018, in which he reportedly said there would be ‘all sorts of chaos’ at the start of Brexit negotiations if Mr Trump were in charge.

Speaking to BBC Two’s Newsnight, Lord Darroch said: ‘If you go back to the Prime Minister’s sayings back in 2018, he said – and this was picked up at the time at a private sort of gathering once: ‘If Donald Trump was negotiating Brexit, he would create chaos right at the start of negotiations. And, you know, all sorts of, you know, people would be outraged by what he was saying and demanding and there’d be huge rows. And then he might get a very good outcome. And we should, we should, we should think about that’.

‘That was when he was becoming increasingly dissatisfied with the then track of the Brexit negotiations.

‘And now as I watch him and the Government conduct the post withdrawal future relationship arrangements, I just wonder if there’s an aspect of the way Donald Trump would have done it and how he is doing it.’

Lord Darroch was forced to stand down last year after diplomatic cables he wrote criticising the Trump White House as ‘inept’ and ‘dysfunctional’ were leaked to the press.

‘The UK has been the chief exporter of the rule of law,’ he told an event organised by the British Foreign Policy Group last night.

‘We have been the single pillar of dependability in international negotiations… which has allowed others to prosper and indeed allowed us to prosper. 

‘It’s not just about the law. Our entire economy is based on the perception that people have of the UK’s adherence to the rule of law… 

‘What we actually need to do is to stick to (the rule of law), and expand that, if we are to deal with China.’ 

Another senior Tory MP joined the backlash this morning, saying breaching international law would ‘go against everything we believe in’.

Chairman of the Commons defence committee Tobias Ellwood told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: ‘As negotiations go down to the wire let’s not lose sight of who we are and what we stand for.

‘This is about the rule of law and our resolve and commitment to uphold it. To unilaterally ignore any treaty in its obligations which we’ve signed and submitted to the United Nations would actually go against everything we believe in.’ 

Whitehall sources have played down suggestions that the move could be a breach of the ministerial code, which stipulates an ‘over-arching duty to comply with the law’. 

Sources said explicit references to international law had been removed by then prime minister David Cameron. 

As seasoned observers speculated on the motivations for the UK approach, Lord Darroch referred to comments made by Mr Johnson in 2018, in which he suggested there would be ‘all sorts of chaos’ at the start of Brexit negotiations if Mr Trump were in charge.

Speaking to BBC Two’s Newsnight, Lord Darroch said: ‘If you go back to the Prime Minister’s sayings back in 2018, he said – and this was picked up at the time at a private sort of gathering once: ”If Donald Trump was negotiating Brexit, he would create chaos right at the start of negotiations. And, you know, all sorts of, you know, people would be outraged by what he was saying and demanding and there’d be huge rows. And then he might get a very good outcome. And we should, we should, we should think about that”.

‘That was when he was becoming increasingly dissatisfied with the then track of the Brexit negotiations.

Former UK ambassador Lord (Kim) Darroch referred to comments made by Mr Johnson in 2018, in which he reportedly said there would be 'all sorts of chaos' at the start of Brexit negotiations if Mr Trump were in charge

Former UK ambassador Lord (Kim) Darroch referred to comments made by Mr Johnson in 2018, in which he reportedly said there would be ‘all sorts of chaos’ at the start of Brexit negotiations if Mr Trump were in charge

‘And now as I watch him and the Government conduct the post withdrawal future relationship arrangements, I just wonder if there’s an aspect of the way Donald Trump would have done it and how he is doing it.’

Lord Darroch was forced to stand down last year after diplomatic cables he wrote criticising the Trump White House as ‘inept’ and ‘dysfunctional’ were leaked to the press.

The decision to make unilateral changes to the Brexit deal’s Northern Ireland Protocol split Tory MPs. Mrs May warned there could be no back-tracking on the Withdrawal Agreement, which was approved by MPs in January.

In a pointed question to Mr Lewis, she asked: ‘How can the Government reassure future international partners that the UK can be trusted to abide by the legal obligations in the agreements it signs?’

Earlier, the row prompted the resignation of Sir Jonathan Jones, head of the Government's legal department

Earlier, the row prompted the resignation of Sir Jonathan Jones, head of the Government’s legal department

Sir Bob Neill, chairman of the Commons justice committee, said he would vote against the ‘very troubling’ plans. 

He added: ‘No country can ever break its international obligations. The UK and the Conservative Party are all about the rule of law.’ 

Tobias Ellwood, chairman of the Commons defence committee, warned that Britain’s ability to stand up to law-breaking by Russia, China and Iran would be ‘severely weakened’ if it was seen to break international law deliberately.

Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer insisted it was ‘wrong’ for the UK to break its word.

But Tory Eurosceptics urged ministers to go further and tear up the Withdrawal Agreement completely if the EU refuses to do a trade deal.

Former Tory leader Sir Iain Duncan Smith said the Government was ‘quite within its rights’ to take unilateral action. 

David Sassoli

European Parliament President David Sassoli has warned of ‘serious consequences’ if the Withdrawal Agreement is broken

Attorney General Suella Braverman (pictured) and Justice Secretary Robert Buckland also faced calls to quit. But sources said both ministers would stay

Attorney General Suella Braverman (pictured) and Justice Secretary Robert Buckland also faced calls to quit. But sources said both ministers would stay

Sir Bernard Jenkin, chairman of the Commons liaison committee, said: ‘If the EU insists on an unreasonable interpretation of the Withdrawal Agreement, the UK must stand ready to repudiate it. 

‘I hope it is not necessary, but if it is the only way to achieve UK prosperity and the kind of sovereign independence which is the democratic right of any nation then so be it.’

Bob Blackman, of the backbench 1922 Committee, said: ‘It would be wholly irresponsible of the Government not to take measures to ensure the integrity of the United Kingdom and to preserve the ability of Northern Ireland businesses to trade with the rest of the United Kingdom.’

Mr Lewis said the planned changes to the law were needed to prevent Northern Ireland’s status as part of the UK being undermined by a deal which will leave it effectively within the EU’s single market and customs union. 

Changes will prevent the blanket imposition of EU tariffs on goods being sent from the mainland to Northern Ireland. Goods sent from the province to the rest of the UK will not require export declarations.

Ministers have also acted to prevent the EU extending jurisdiction over state aid rules in Northern Ireland to the rest of the UK.

But the decision to override the ‘direct effect’ of EU law in these areas risks denting hopes of a Brexit deal.

Trade talks resumed in London yesterday between Mr Johnson’s chief negotiator, David Frost, and his EU counterpart Michel Barnier.

One EU diplomat said rewriting parts of the Brexit deal would have ‘huge negative consequences’ on the talks. The insider added: ‘Who would want to agree trade deals with a country that doesn’t implement international treaties?’

But Whitehall sources insisted there were precedents for the move, including Canada’s 2018 decision to legalise cannabis in violation of international narcotics treaties.

A disdain for rules that still haunts Blair 

By Simon Walters for the Daily Mail 

The last Prime Minister to provoke the resignation of a Whitehall legal mandarin by flouting international law is still haunted by the consequences.

Elizabeth Wilmshurst, Foreign Office legal expert, resigned on the eve of the 2003 Iraq War in protest at Tony Blair’s secret last-minute decision to overturn her official advice that it broke international law.

He did so after Attorney General Lord Goldsmith, under massive pressure from No 10, conveniently changed his previous advice that it was illegal without a second United Nations ruling.

The rest, as they say, is history.

The resignation yesterday of the head of the Government’s legal department, Jonathan Jones, may not be a matter of war and peace. But the principle is the same: the dangers for Britain of a Prime Minister making up international law as he goes along are clear. 

The last Prime Minister to provoke the resignation of a Whitehall legal mandarin by flouting international law is still haunted by the consequences. Pictured: Tony Blair

The last Prime Minister to provoke the resignation of a Whitehall legal mandarin by flouting international law is still haunted by the consequences. Pictured: Tony Blair

As was the case with the Iraq War row, the legal details concerning Mr Jones’s departure are complicated.

But Mr Johnson only has himself to blame for the most controversial element, his decision to go back on the agreement with the EU concerning Northern Ireland. Last November, when he was trying to woo Ulster Unionists to back his Brexit deal, he promised there would be no customs checks between Britain and Northern Ireland when we finally leave the EU.

Critics said he could never deliver such a commitment. Sure enough, the Unionists duly accused Mr Johnson of betrayal when he went back on the pledge in the EU withdrawal agreement he signed with Brussels. Now he has gone back on that too.

Nor is it only the EU who are crying foul. If Mr Johnson flagrantly breaks this international law how on earth could any country trust him to abide by any other treaty, demanded his No 10 predecessor, Theresa May, yesterday. 

Elizabeth Wilmshurst, Foreign Office legal expert, resigned on the eve of the 2003 Iraq War

Elizabeth Wilmshurst, Foreign Office legal expert, resigned on the eve of the 2003 Iraq War

His hope that he could explain away rewriting his Brexit deal as merely tying up ‘loose ends’ was blown out of the water when Northern Ireland Secretary Brandon Lewis openly admitted it breached international law.

For Tony Blair, international legal niceties mattered less than the fact that despite being told by his own legal chiefs that the Iraq War was illegal, he had promised US President George Bush (again in secret) a year earlier that he would do just that.

Unlike Mr Blair, no one can accuse Mr Johnson of not being open about his intentions.

He won an election landslide pledging to ‘get Brexit done’. Critics accused him of similar reckless bravado last year when he said Britain would leave the EU, ‘no ifs or buts’ and – eventually – did just that.

After seeing Brexit in danger of coming undone under law-abiding but lacklustre Mrs May, many of the millions who voted for Mr Johnson will not care about the legal small print. 

In his defence his latest move may be more akin to an unlawful but possibly effective tactical ploy in the long-running Brexit diplomatic war, rather than, in Mr Blair’s case, an illegal move in a real war.

As with Mr Johnson on Brexit, Mr Blair had gung-ho public support for the Iraq War.

Two decades later, I would estimate a majority wishes Mr Blair had not forced little-known civil service lawyer Mrs Wilmshurst to walk out.

Mr Johnson will be hoping that history is kinder to him for forcing little-known Mr Jones out.