Boris Johnson threatens Rishi Sunak’s bid to end deadlock over Brexit

theguardian.com:

Rishi Sunak is on a collision course with Boris Johnson over his plans to overhaul Northern Ireland’s post-Brexit arrangements, amid a frantic diplomatic blitz to end the bitter dispute with the EU.

In the latest sign of the political danger Sunak faces as he attempts to reform the Northern Ireland protocol, it is understood that Johnson has become concerned that a successful deal will see the government ditch controversial legislation allowing the UK to unilaterally rip up some Brexit arrangements in the region.

With Johnson and the Tory right threatening to disrupt the deal, Keir Starmer told the Observer he was taking the extraordinary step of offering his party’s support in any parliamentary vote on the agreement, enabling Sunak to stop “scrambling around to appease an intransigent rump of his own backbenchers”.

There has been persistent concern among Sunak’s allies that Johnson could attempt to derail a compromise with Brussels. Keeping the Northern Ireland protocol bill, introduced by Johnson’s government and currently working its way through parliament, now appears to have become a key test for the former prime minister.

While government insiders are at pains to state that there is much work to do on the details of any deal, they have signalled that a successful outcome would mean the bill would not be needed. “If we can find a way to satisfactorily resolve the issues with the protocol then you wouldn’t need the bill,” said a senior official. “But we haven’t resolved them yet.”

Supporters of the legislation insist it would give the UK continued leverage over Brussels. A source close to Johnson said it was his view that “it would be a great mistake to drop the Northern Ireland protocol bill”.

The new threat comes as