Today: 23 June 2025
23 May 2022
2 mins read

Britain calls for EU action on Northern Ireland

London is bidding to placate pro-UK unionists who are refusing to join a new power-sharing government in Belfast — led for the first time by pro-Irish nationalists — until the protocol is reformed…reports Asian Lite News

Britain has insisted it is up to the European Union to unblock political paralysis in Northern Ireland, after assuring a delegation from the US Congress of its “cast-iron” commitment to peace in the province.

The British government has provoked anger on both sides of the Atlantic with a plan to overhaul the so-called Northern Ireland Protocol, a trading arrangement that was agreed as part of its Brexit divorce deal with the EU.

London is bidding to placate pro-UK unionists who are refusing to join a new power-sharing government in Belfast — led for the first time by pro-Irish nationalists — until the protocol is reformed.

Interviewed by the Sunday Telegraph newspaper, Northern Ireland Secretary Brandon Lewis demanded that Brussels adopt a new negotiating mandate to address the fierce objections of the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP).

“I made this point to the EU myself before the (May 5) elections. My view was, it was much easier to get a deal before the elections than afterwards,” Lewis said.

“The idea that it was going to be easier after the elections was a crazy one from the EU.” The protocol recognised Northern Ireland’s status as a fragile, post-conflict territory that shares the UK’s new land border with the EU.

Keeping the border open with neighbouring Ireland, an EU member, was mandated in the 1998 Good Friday Agreement, given that the frontier was a frequent flashpoint during three decades of violence. But the protocol’s requirement for checks on goods arriving from England, Scotland and Wales has infuriated the DUP and other unionists, who say it drives a wedge between Northern Ireland and the rest of the UK.

Lewis stressed that the DUP, as the biggest unionist party, had a democratic mandate to back its position.

“And at the moment, the protocol, which the EU claims is about protecting the Good Friday Agreement, is the very document putting the Good Friday Agreement most at risk,” he said. But the EU insists the protocol is not up for renegotiation.

And last week Nancy Pelosi, the speaker of the US House of Representatives, warned that the UK could forget about a post-Brexit trade deal if it rewrites the agreement.

On Saturday, Foreign Secretary Liz Truss met in England with a congressional delegation led by Richard Neal, a senior member of Pelosi’s Democratic party in the House.

ALSO READ-Wickremesinghe thanks people of India for $2 bn aid

Previous Story

UAE education system gets a revamp

Next Story

Saudi bans travel to 16 countries including India

Latest from -Top News

Khamenei Vows Payback

Calling the attacks “a big crime,” Khamenei warned of retaliation….reports Asian Lite News Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on Monday, in his first reaction following the US strikes on Iranian nuclear

US committed great crime: Iran

Iran has now called for an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council and demanded the IAEA Board of Governors address the situation….reports Asian Lite News Iran has strongly condemned the United

Strike Iran, Face Us, Houthis warn US

The Yemen-based Houthi group, which controls much of northern Yemen, has been targeting Israel since November 2023…reports Asian Lite News Yemen’s Houthi group issued a stark warning on Sunday, declaring they would

Tehran Hits Back After US Strikes

The missiles struck several locations across central Israel. Notably, one hit Haifa without any prior warning sirens, raising alarm over possible gaps in the missile alert system….reports Asian Lite News Iran fired

Trump Dares Iran Again

This comes as Trump announced that America had bombed three nuclear sites in Iran and warned Tehran of further precision strikes…reports Asian Lite News US President Donald Trump declared that no other
Go toTop

Don't Miss

Russia may have suffered at least 355,000 casualties in Ukraine

Russia’s Defence Ministry said its troops advanced some 9 kilometres

US, UK embassies in Afghanistan accuse Taliban of war crimes

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said last week that