Editorial: Boris Johnson's admission of fault over Northern Ireland Protocol gives some weight to his criticism of the new deal

The ex prime minister Boris Johnson gave an interesting talk in London yesterday.

Mr Johnson said that he would find it difficult to support the Windsor Framework deal for Northern Ireland, signed with the EU this week by Rishi Sunak.

That was not the unusual part of the former premier's comments because over the last year he has been combative with regard to the EU's encroachment into NI, and the consequent implications for sovereignty here.

The unexpected part of Mr Johnson's appearance came when he conceded he made mistakes with the Northern Ireland Protocol that he agreed with Leo Varadkar in the autumn of 2019.

"I thought those checks would not be onerous since there isn't that much stuff that falls into that category, most of the goods stay in Northern Ireland," Mr Johnson said. "It's all my fault, I fully accept responsibility."

This is extraordinary, but also very welcome.

Mr Johnson, who was a newspaper columnist and thinker before he became an MP, has always been a man of seriousness and high intelligence, despite his sometimes clownish exterior.

Yet he is also ruthless and his pledge to the DUP conference in 2018 that he would not accept either a customs or a regulatory border before the following year agreeing to both made him seem utterly cynical. Within days he was backslapping with EU leaders, having pretended that he would stand up to them. Then he denied to people in NI that there was an Irish Sea border, as if we were fools.

But yesterday's admission opens the way to a more charitable explanation of Mr Johnson's later toughness – that he regretted what he had agreed (at a time of political paralysis).

Mr Johnson was vindicated in his NI Protocol Bill and his candid comments now about his past errors give his criticism of the new deal some extra authority.