Brussels won’t give in to blackmail over Northern Ireland protocol, warns EU
Business leaders in Northern Ireland have urged Boris Johnson to pull back from radical unilateral action to ditch protocol checks, as the prime minister heads to Belfast for crisis talks.
Mr Johnson has said the UK will have a “necessity to act” if the EU is unwilling to drop checks on goods coming from Great Britain into Northern Ireland.
Ministers are reportedly ready to table legislation as early as this week to override the protocol – despite EU warnings that such a move would violate the Brexit treaty and could spark a trade war.
However, the Northern Ireland business Brexit working group – an umbrella body comprised of 14 business organisations – has written to Mr Johnson to say a compromise with the EU is still possible.