Foreign secretary Liz Truss today unveiled the government’s long-awaited plans for redrawing the Northern Ireland protocol.
The post-Brexit agreement on trade between the province and Great Britain has been widely criticised by ministers and unionist politicians.
Despite her bellicose language last week, Truss was far more conciliatory as she called on the EU to agree to renegotiate the terms of the deal.
But she warned that if Brussels refuses to budge, legislation allowing the UK government to unilaterally over-ride the protocol will be introduced “within weeks”.
So what does the government plan to do and what does it mean?
Why does the government want to change the protocol?
Despite Boris Johnson’s previous claims to the contrary, the protocol has resulted in a customs border in the Irish Sea, increasing red tape for businesses trying to sell their goods.
This has also angered unionist politicians, who see it as driving a wedge between Northern Ireland and the rest of the UK.
Following the Stormont elections earlier this month, the DUP has refused to form a power-sharing executive with Sinn Fein - who emerged as the largest party - unless the protocol is redrawn.
The government has therefore called on the EU to drop its opposition to renegotiating the deal, claiming that failure to do so will put the 1998 Good Friday Agreement at risk.
What has Liz Truss announced?
In a statement to MPs, the foreign secretary said that while “our preference remains a negotiated solution with the EU”, the government had drawn up legislation to unilaterally over-ride the protocol if no agreement is possible.
She said the legislation will propose separate “green” and “red” lanes for goods travelling between Great Britain and Northern Ireland, with those destined to stay within the UK freed from EU-level checks.
The cabinet minister said it would also allow the government to apply VAT on all goods at the same rate in Northern Ireland as it does in the rest of the UK, something the protocol currently prevents.
Truss said: “The bill will contain an explicit power to give effect to a new, revised protocol if we can reach an accommodation that meets our goal of protecting the Belfast/Good Friday Agreement. We remain open to a negotiated solution, but the urgency of the situation means we can’t afford to delay any longer.
How has the EU responded?
They’re not very impressed.
Maros Sefcovic, the European Commission vice-president who has been negotiating with Truss, issued a lengthy statement shortly after the foreign secretary’s statement.
In it, he expressed concern at the UK’s willingness to act unilaterally, and threatening to “respond with all measures at its disposal” - Brussels-speak for a trade war.
A trade war could see punishing tariffs being slapped on British goods being sold to the EU, harming UK businesses and driving up prices in the shops.
Sefcovic said: “With political will and commitment, practical issues arising from the implementation of the protocol in Northern Ireland can be resolved.
“The European Commission stands ready to continue playing its part, as it has from the outset.”
What about the Northern Ireland parties?
It’s safe to say the jury is still out.
DUP leader Sir Jeffrey Donaldson described the announcement of legislation as a “welcome but overdue step” and said his party will take a “graduated and cautious” approach to re-entering government at Stormont.
Michelle O’Neill, Sinn Fein’s vice-president and the woman set to be Northern Ireland’s next first minister if power-sharing is restored, Northern Ireland must not be caught in the middle of “a game of chicken” between London and Brussels.
She said: “The behaviour of the British government and Boris Johnson in terms of initiating again legislation to override an international agreement does not bode well for a good faith negotiation and I think that puts us in jeopardy in terms of the uncertainty and instability that it provides for us here.”
Colum Eastwood, leader of the nationalist SDLP, said the foreign secretary was “going to against the majority” of citizens in Northern Ireland, who he said support the protocol.
What happens next?
More talks.
A damaging trade war in the middle of a cost of living crisis is the last thing the UK needs, so it’s in the government’s best interests to reach an agreement with the EU.
At the same time, the prime minister is desperate for power-sharing to be restored at Stormont.
“I think everybody should be rolling up their sleeves and get stuck in to the government of Northern Ireland,” Johnson said on a visit to Belfast yesterday.
“The province has got so much going for it but you need leadership and you need government.
“So you bet I said to the DUP in particular ‘we want to see you back in the executive, we want to see you nominating, we want to see a speaker in the assembly’, of course.
“The issue they have is that they object to the operation of the protocol. We don’t want to scrap it, but we think it can be fixed.”