BREXIT minister Lord Frost has threatened that the UK could soon take drastic action over the post-Brexit agreement on Northern Ireland over concerns about violence and disruption.
He urged the European Union to “stop the point-scoring and work with us” to “rapidly” find new solutions to end border checks on goods crossing the Irish Sea which he says make “no sense”.
Lord Frost warned that the Government continues “to consider all our options” as he said the situation caused by the Northern Ireland Protocol that he negotiated “cannot be sustained for long”.
But potentially breaching international law by tearing up the protocol was understood not to be under consideration, with government sources hinting at the triggering of Article 16 to suspend checks instead being an option.
Arguing ministers “did not anticipate” issues with checks when signing the protocol, Lord Frost wrote in the Mail on Sunday that “I totally understand” the anxiety of Unionists.
“Protests have been occurring and political stability is at risk. Our overriding aim has always been to protect the Belfast [Good Friday] Agreement. If the protocol is not protecting it, it is not working,” he said.
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