Alastair Campbell clashes with Anita Boateng on Brexit

We use your sign-up to provide content in ways you’ve consented to and to improve our understanding of you. This may include adverts from us and 3rd parties based on our understanding. You can unsubscribe at any time. More info

The bloc has released a statement outlining their refusal to budge on the current details of the Northern Ireland Protocol. The statement comes after Brexit minister Lord David Frost suggested further discussions on the protocol that creates a hard border down the Irish Sea between Great Britain and Northern Ireland. After learning of the EU’s refusal to renegotiate one Express.co.uk reader declared the Prime Minister should “go straight to World Trade Organisation rules and give them nothing”.

The Briton demanded Boris Johnson “invoke Article 16 and tear up the withdrawal agreement now”.

The continued: “Go straight to World Trade Organisation rules and give them nothing.

“Do what the majority voted for back in 2016 and that leaves the EU in its entirety.”

Another Express.co.uk reader commented: “Rip the agreement up.

“The EU is using this to punish the UK.

“Why should the UK protect the EU market we have our own to protect, grow a backbone, Frost and Boris.”

The European Commission said it would not entertain a wholesale rewriting of the Brexit treaty.

However, they have accepted Lord Frost’s refusal to implement EU red tape in Northern Ireland for the foreseeable future.

Read More: Boris Johnson to address nation as Covid crisis puts NHS on brink

The UK’s Brexit minister has announced further delays to some Irish Sea border checks.

These checks have inflamed unionist sentiment in Northern Ireland who see it as effectively implementing an economic united Ireland and cutting them off from their British identity.

Lord Frost said the decision to extend the grace period to delay customs checks at the Irish Sea border meant that not all of the controls in the region have to be implemented.

He added that it was necessary to “provide space for further potential discussions” with the EU.

DON’T MISS
Could social care be the final nail in Boris’s coffin? [INSIGHT]
Will there be another lockdown? Covid numbers creep up once more [ANALYSIS]
Robert Peston bemoans testing positive for Covid despite double jab [LATEST]

However, a statement released by the EU shows that they are unwilling to renegotiate the Northern Ireland Protocol.

The Commission said: “We take note of the UK ministerial statement regarding the operation of the Protocol on the current basis, including the continuation of existing grace periods.

“We continue to stress that the Withdrawal Agreement is an international agreement.

“The Protocol is an integral part of the Withdrawal Agreement and the agreed solution between the UK and the EU to the problems caused by Brexit for the island of Ireland.

“Both sides are legally bound to fulfil their obligations under the Agreement.

“Our focus remains on identifying long-term, flexible and practical solutions to address issues related to the practical implementation of the Protocol that citizens and businesses in Northern Ireland are experiencing.

“However, we will not agree to a renegotiation of the Protocol. The Commission continues to engage constructively with the UK, in the interest of all communities in Northern Ireland.”

Source: Read Full Article