Brexit: Ireland and EU urge UK to honour terms of Withdrawal Agreement

The statements came after reports suggested that Prime Minister Boris Johnson ordered his Brexit team to find ways to “get around” the Northern Ireland protocol.

But Downing Street insisted the UK would “comply with our obligations” under the deal struck with Brussels, and said it would require only “limited changes” to Great Britain-Northern Ireland trade.

The Sunday Times reported that officials in Taskforce Europe are seeking to evade Irish Sea checks on goods passing from Great Britain to Northern Ireland.

Northern Ireland Secretary Brandon Lewis, on a visit to Londonderry today, cautioned against getting “caught up in rumours and stuff in the press”.

Mr Lewis reiterated the government’s insistence that there would not be a border down the Irish Sea.

Speaking in Dublin earlier, Taoiseach Leo Varadkar said the Withdrawal Agreement is an international treaty and he expects the UK to “honour that in full”.

He said there can be “no backsliding” and urged Mr Johnson’s government to focus on the next phase of negotiating a free trade agreement.

“We totally understand why they may want to minimise any checks at the ports and airports in Northern Ireland, we want to do that too, but the agreement clearly says if there have to be checks anywhere, they would happen at the ports and airports in Northern Ireland rather than on the land border between north and south,” he said.

“So I am saying to the British government, there can be no backsliding on the Withdrawal Agreement, let’s not even go there and let’s focus instead on what should be the next phase, which is negotiating a free trade agreement between the European Union and Ireland and the UK so we can protect jobs and our economy.”

Brussels said the Withdrawal Agreement must be effectively implemented – and cautioned that respecting legal obligations would be “very important” for establishing trust between the UK and EU in future negotiations.

Dana Spinant, deputy chief spokeswoman of the European Commission, told reporters: “The Withdrawal Agreement has been signed and ratified by both sides and as such it must be effectively implemented.”

Mr Johnson’s Cabinet will meet on Tuesday to sign off on the proposals, it was reported, which will be presented in Parliament on Thursday.