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Blair and Major blast Johnson over “shocking” plan in breach of international law

Monday, September 14th 2020 - 11:12 UTC
Full article 26 comments
“What is being proposed now is shocking,” Major and Blair, who were adversaries, as Conservative and Labour leaders, wrote in a joint letter published by the Sunday Times newspaper. “What is being proposed now is shocking,” Major and Blair, who were adversaries, as Conservative and Labour leaders, wrote in a joint letter published by the Sunday Times newspaper.
“How can it be compatible with the codes of conduct that bind ministers, law officers and civil servants deliberately to break treaty obligations?” “How can it be compatible with the codes of conduct that bind ministers, law officers and civil servants deliberately to break treaty obligations?”

Former prime ministers Tony Blair and John Major on Sunday said Britain must drop a “shocking” plan to pass legislation that breaks its divorce treaty with the European Union, in a breach of international law.

The British government said explicitly last week that it plans to break international law by breaching parts of the Withdrawal Agreement treaty that it signed in January, when it formally left the EU.

“What is being proposed now is shocking,” Major and Blair, who were adversaries in the 1990s as Conservative and Labour leaders, wrote in a joint letter published by the Sunday Times newspaper.

“How can it be compatible with the codes of conduct that bind ministers, law officers and civil servants deliberately to break treaty obligations?”

Theresa May, current Prime Minister Boris Johnson's predecessor, has also questioned whether international partners would be able to trust Britain in future.

Johnson says the new legislation is needed to clarify the Northern Ireland protocol element of the Brexit deal, to protect free trade between the four constituent nations of the United Kingdom.

EU chief negotiator Michel Barnier said on Sunday that the Withdrawal Agreement on Northern Ireland “is not a threat to the integrity of the UK”, and had been agreed by the two sides to protect peace on the island of Ireland.

“We could not have been clearer about the consequences of Brexit,” Barnier said on Twitter.

Earlier on Sunday, British Justice Secretary Robert Buckland told Sky News the legislation is “Brexit-critical” and must be passed by parliament, which is due to debate the bill on Monday.

Keir Starmer, leader of the opposition Labour Party, described the legislation as wrong on Sunday.

“We have broken the trust of our international partners,” Starmer wrote in the Sunday Telegraph newspaper, adding that his party would oppose the bill in parliament unless changes were made.

European lawmakers have warned they would not approve any new trade deal unless the withdrawal agreement was fully implemented, while there is also talk of possible legal action.

“The reputation of the UK ... as a trusted negotiating partner on important issues like this is being damaged in a very serious way,” Irish foreign minister Simon Coveney told the BBC on Sunday.

Categories: Politics, International.

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  • Livepeanuts

    The law national or international is nothing more than a tool to allow our society to develop, it is not a religion nor any other form of important belief, UK governments have been in the past far too close to Marxism for the good of the UK and when the questioned treaty with the EU was signed, a Marxist was actually writing the PM's letters for him, and not only that in those circumstances because the EU “chose” to read the unsigned letters forced on the PM by traitors and not what the PM really wanted to say in signed letters according to democracy.
    It is also expressed and clear that choosing Barnier and by Barnier's own words, he has admitted that he was going to use the Northern Ireland issue as a tool to coerce the UK during negotiations, which they were doing just fine until the “night of the oligarchs” on December 12th 2019 when the oligarchic traitors were swept to one side and democracy was re-introduced to the Commons and “the law” stopped being and expression of oligarchic abuse and a distortion of the will of the Sovereign Herself which was even bent and forced by the Supreme Oligarchs. Out of all this total degeneration of the legal processes thanks greatly to a corruption of the Royal Prerogative, this “treaty” was produced and inflicted on the UK, this “treaty” came out of all this!
    The EU fixed the process and timetable of the negotiations as well on top of all the above abuse and speculation!
    The remainer Theresa May said yes to all that as well and now she finds it fit to throw in even more pro-European arguments against democracy!
    If the border between the republic and the North is so important, then the border between the North and the rest of the UK is just as important and the EU should not be allowed to have sovereignty over that!
    The Political Declaration talked of a Canada style deal which has been withdrawn by the EU, the possiblility of no deal must be addressed.

    Sep 14th, 2020 - 06:15 pm +2
  • Pugol-H

    Ex PMs Club of Europhilic, hard core remainers, what else were they going to say?

    The fact that Boris now has the numbers of (hard) Brexiteer MPs to get this through Parliament, shows you just how much the political landscape has changed, since that lot were “put out to grass”.

    Just to be clear here, this bill becoming law does not break any agreements, the EU cannot take any legal action because no agreement has been broken, at this point.

    As to whether the powers in the bill are ever used (and only then is an agreement broken) will depend upon whether the EU tries and “re-interpret” the NI Protocol, a breach of the agreement in itself.

    Both sides are now sitting at the table with “loaded revolvers”, Barnier is still whinging like a tart who hasn’t been paid and just keeps coming back for more, doesn’t seem to want to Fuck Off, like a good little EuroTrash Frog.

    What can you do? Eventually it will sink in, BYE BYE, we are GONE now, no more EU in any form.

    Sep 15th, 2020 - 12:34 am +2
  • NativeAngeleno

    The Conservatives, like the Republican Party re Trump, have enabled Boris' refusal to stay within his powers as he tests his abilities to run amuck like a tinpot potentate. The PM has clearly revealed to the world he is Britain's own Trump.

    Sep 14th, 2020 - 01:42 pm +1
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