London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Saturday, May 31, 2025

Britain digs in over N Ireland in simmering Brexit trade row

Britain digs in over N Ireland in simmering Brexit trade row

Britain yesterday hit back at French President Emmanuel Macron’s uncompromising stance on Brexit, in a simmering row over new trading arrangements for Northern Ireland.
Macron on Thursday warned London that it was “not serious” to review agreements signed last December, just weeks before the UK left the European single market and customs union.

“Nothing is renegotiable,” he said before heading to the G7 leaders summit in Cornwall, southwest England.

But Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab insisted that Brussels should be more flexible in its approach to Northern Ireland, which shares the UK’s only land border with the EU.

Under the so-called Northern Ireland protocol, checks are required on some goods heading to the British province from mainland Britain - England, Scotland and Wales. But that has angered unionist communities who say it has driven a wedge between them and the rest of the UK, and blamed it for a resurgence of violence.

Controls have been suspended, and London has extended a grace period for checks on deliveries of chilled meat products to the province.

“The change must come from the European Commission side,” said Raab. “We are not negotiating or haggling the integrity of the United Kingdom,” he told Sky News.

Talks to try to resolve the issue broke up in London without agreement on Wednesday, with Brussels threatening punitive action if London fails to implement the agreement.

The arrangement - to prevent unchecked goods heading into the EU through member state Ireland - effectively means Northern Ireland is still part of the European single market.

The row threatened to overshadow the G7 summit, with reports that US President Joe Biden was angered at the potential harm to the 1998 peace deal that brought an end to three decades of violence over British rule in Northern Ireland.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson played down reports of a rift on Thursday, after the pair met for 90 minutes of talks on the eve of the G7 leaders meeting.

But the issue is unlikely to go away, with Johnson due to meet European leaders keen to resolve the stand-off at the summit this weekend.

And in Northern Ireland itself, thousands of people gathered in west Belfast on Thursday night in defiance of coronavirus restrictions to protest against the protocol.

Police estimated that more than 3,000 people turned out unlawfully and marched on the Shankill Road.

Social media footage showed the burning of a united Ireland banner. Anger at the protocol has already led to the resignation of First Minister Arlene Foster and her replacement with a more hardline unionist who has promised a tougher line.

Her successor as Democratic Unionist Party leader, Edwin Poots, on Thursday called for the protocol to be scrapped entirely as it was not workable.
“It has to go,” he said.

Foster was more restrained after a meeting yesterday of the British-Irish Council, which includes the UK and Irish governments, and heads of the devolved administrations in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.

The protocol was causing an “imbalance” in the relationships between pro-UK unionists and nationalists in favour of union of Ireland in Northern Ireland, she said. “We need to get that back on an even keel,” she told a news conference after the meeting at the Lough Erne resort in Enniskillen, near the border with Ireland.

Ireland’s Prime Minister Micheal Martin welcomed Biden’s intervention, and said “the political will is there within the European Union to get this issue resolved”.
Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
Satirical Sketch Sparks Political Spouse Feud in South Korea
Indonesia Quarry Collapse Leaves Multiple Dead and Missing
South Korean Election Video Pulled Amid Misogyny Outcry
Asian Economies Shift Away from US Dollar Amid Trade Tensions
Netflix Investigates Allegations of On-Set Mistreatment in K-Drama Production
US Defence Chief Reaffirms Strong Ties with Singapore Amid Regional Tensions
Vietnam Faces Strategic Dilemma Over China's Mekong River Projects
Malaysia's First AI Preacher Sparks Debate on Islamic Principles
White House Press Secretary Criticizes Harvard Funding, Advocates for Vocational Training
France to Implement Nationwide Smoking Ban in Outdoor Spaces Frequented by Children
Meta and Anduril Collaborate on AI-Driven Military Augmented Reality Systems
Russia's Fossil Fuel Revenues Approach €900 Billion Since Ukraine Invasion
U.S. Justice Department Reduces American Bar Association's Role in Judicial Nominations
U.S. Department of Energy Unveils 'Doudna' Supercomputer to Advance AI Research
U.S. SEC Dismisses Lawsuit Against Binance Amid Regulatory Shift
Alcohol Industry Faces Increased Scrutiny Amid Health Concerns
Italy Faces Population Decline Amid Youth Emigration
U.S. Goods Imports Plunge Nearly 20% Amid Tariff Disruptions
OpenAI Faces Competition from Cheaper AI Rivals
Foreign Tax Provision in U.S. Budget Bill Alarms Investors
Trump Accuses China of Violating Trade Agreement
Gerry Adams Wins Libel Case Against BBC
Russia Accuses Serbia of Supplying Arms to Ukraine
EU Central Bank Pushes to Replace US Dollar with Euro as World’s Main Currency
Chinese Woman Dies After Being Forced to Visit Bank Despite Critical Illness
President Trump Grants Full Pardons to Reality TV Stars Todd and Julie Chrisley
Texas Enacts App Store Accountability Act Mandating Age Verification
U.S. Health Secretary Ends Select COVID-19 Vaccine Recommendations
Vatican Calls for Sustainable Tourism in 2025 Message
Trump Warns Putin Is 'Playing with Fire' Amid Escalating Ukraine Conflict
India and Pakistan Engage Trump-Linked Lobbyists to Influence U.S. Policy
U.S. Halts New Student Visa Interviews Amid Enhanced Security Measures
Trump Administration Cancels $100 Million in Federal Contracts with Harvard
SpaceX Starship Test Flight Ends in Failure, Mars Mission Timeline Uncertain
King Charles Affirms Canadian Sovereignty Amid U.S. Statehood Pressure
Trump Threatens 25% Tariff on iPhones Amid Dispute with Apple CEO
Putin's Helicopter Reportedly Targeted by Ukrainian Drones
Liverpool Car Ramming Incident Leaves Multiple Injured
Australia Faces Immigration Debate Following Labor Party Victory
Iranian Revolutionary Guard Founder Warns Against Trusting Regime in Nuclear Talks
Macron Dismisses Viral Video of Wife's Gesture as Playful Banter
Cleveland Clinic Study Questions Effectiveness of Recent Flu Vaccine
Netanyahu Accuses Starmer of Siding with Hamas
Junior Doctors Threaten Strike Over 4% Pay Offer
Labour MPs Urge Chancellor to Tax Wealthy Over Cutting Welfare
Publication of UK Child Poverty Strategy Delayed Until Autumn
France Detains UK Fishing Vessel Amid Post-Brexit Tensions
Calls Grow to Resume Syrian Asylum Claims in UK
Nigel Farage Pledges to Reinstate Winter Fuel Payments
Boris and Carrie Johnson Welcome Daughter Poppy
×