Boris Johnson’s government is on a collision course with the EU after signalling its intention to announce plans next week to tear up post-Brexit trading arrangements for Northern Ireland.
The UK prime minister told his Irish counterpart Micheál Martin on Tuesday that the current agreement with the EU was “not sustainable in its current form”, ignoring longstanding appeals from EU capitals and Brussels not to take unilateral action.
In what risks being seen as a major escalation of tensions between London and Brussels, two senior government insiders said the UK was preparing to announce legislation to rescind elements of the Northern Ireland protocol as soon as next week “unless the EU radically changes its approach”.