Brexit: why has row over Northern Ireland protocol resurfaced?
The UK is set for another bust-up with the EU over Brexit, testing the patience of European leaders trying to maintain a united front against Vladimir Putin.
What is the UK threatening, why now and what are the consequences?
The issue is the Northern Ireland protocol, signed by Boris Johnson in January 2020.
It is now threatening to derail the new Stormont power-sharing government after the Democratic Unionist party refused to appoint new ministers until the checks on the Irish Sea border on goods coming into Northern Ireland from Great Britain were scrapped.
What has happened now?
The UK foreign secretary, Liz Truss, issued a strongly worded and lengthy broadside against the EU late on Tuesday night criticising proposals it made last October to relax checks on goods crossing from Great Britain into Northern Ireland.
She said the proposals “would worsen the current trading arrangements and lead to everyday items disappearing from shelves” and lead to “other unacceptable burdens on business”.
And she warned that the UK “will not shy away from taking action to stabilise the situation in Northern Ireland if solutions cannot be found”.
<p lang=«en» dir=«ltr» xml:lang=«en»>Full Liz Truss statement below — it's long. «I'll not shy away from taking action to stabilise the situation in Northern Ireland if solutions cannot be found.” pic.twitter.com/YmTYqJN8EYShe said Lincolnshire sausages and other chilled meats would need a veterinary certificate to enter Northern Ireland, sending a parcel to Northern Ireland would require more than 50 fields of information for customs declarations and there “would be powers to search people’s bags for food, like ham sandwiches, on departure from the ferry to Northern Ireland”.
She also said pet owners
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