PM: We need to convince EU protocol can work differently

Boris Johnson said there remained a need to convince the EU to agree to changes to how the contentious post-Brexit Irish Sea trading arrangements operate.

Commenting during Prime Minister’s Questions at Westminster, Mr Johnson reiterated his threat to suspend elements of the protocol – by triggering the Article 16 mechanism – if an agreed resolution is not arrived at.

Invoking Article 16 would not axe the protocol, but rather instigate another negotiation process over its operation.

Mr Johnson’s remarks in response to a question from DUP leader Sir Jeffrey Donaldson come as UK and EU officials continue technical discussions aimed at finding solutions to issues created by the new economic border in the Irish Sea.

Both sides are trying to reach agreement that would reduce customs paperwork and the numbers of checks required on goods moving from Great Britain to Northern Ireland and ensure a continued free flow of medicines across the Irish Sea.

While the UK also wants to see the removal of a protocol oversight role for the European Court of Justice, the EU has refused to countenance such a move.

The government has repeatedly warned that it will trigger Article 16 if progress is not made – however there is mounting concern among some unionists in Northern Ireland that Mr Johnson has yet to follow through with that threat.

Unionists and loyalists are vehemently opposed to the protocol, arguing it has altered the constitutional position of Northern Ireland in the UK without their consent.

They claim it has undermined the principle of consent that was the fulcrum of the 1998 Good Friday peace agreement.

Nationalist and non-unionist parties in Northern Ireland take a different view. While they concede that operational issues with the protocol need to be addressed, they insist the arrangements can actually be beneficial for the Province in the long term.

Earlier, Northern Ireland Secretary Brandon Lewis was also challenged on the government’s stance on Article 16.

Addressing the Commons, Mr Lewis insisted the “ideal solution” would be to reach an agreement with the EU, but said the UK remains prepared to suspend parts of the agreement.

On Article 16, he added: “We’re very clear we don’t rule that out.

“If we have to use Article 16 we will, but we are in negotiations with the European Union and the ideal solution for us would be to come to an agreement with the European Union.

“But it’s got to be one that delivers on the needs of the people of Northern Ireland.”

Conservative MP Mark Francois claimed Mr Lewis “keeps threatening to invoke Article 16, but he never quite gets round to doing it”.

The MP for Rayleigh and Wickford added: “There’s a pattern of behaviour, here. The secretary of state talks a great game, but he never plays one.”

Mr Lewis responded: “Article 16 is not the solution in itself, it’s the start of the process.”