Britain said on Thursday it was readying new legislation to rewrite its Brexit commitments on Northern Ireland but denied it was breaking its treaty obligations to the European Union.

The bill is expected next week, possibly on Monday, and would trigger unilateral changes to the so-called Northern Ireland Protocol in the teeth of objections from Brussels and most political parties in Belfast.

Ireland’s Foreign Minister Simon Coveney said opposition to Britain’s tactics had “hardened” across EU capitals, querying whether it was “serious about a negotiated solution”, Irish media reported.

The UK says the bill is needed to fix trade distortions in Northern Ireland, which was left hanging in a unique situation by Brexit, and bring the province’s biggest pro-UK party back into power-sharing government.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s cabinet has signed off on the plan and only some final drafting remains, his spokesman told reporters.

“Yes, we are confident of that: the bill is lawful under international law,” the spokesman added.

Senior minister Michael Gove denied that Johnson was looking to divert attention after he narrowly survived a no-confidence vote within his own party, by placating Brexit hardliners on the Conservative backbenches.

“I don’t think it’s about picking a fight,” Gove said on BBC radio.

“It is absolutely right that we fix the problems with the Northern Ireland Protocol,” he said.

The Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) refusing to re-enter government in the province unless the protocol is overhauled.

The protocol was agreed as part of Britain’s Brexit divorce deal with Brussels, recognising Northern Ireland’s status as a fragile, post-conflict territory that shares the UK’s new land border with the EU.

It requires checks on goods arriving from England, Scotland and Wales, to prevent them entering the EU’s single market via the Republic of Ireland.

That has infuriated the DUP, which says Northern Ireland’s status within the UK is in jeopardy.

The UK says it plans to scrap most of the checks, arguing that the higher priority is ensuring no return to a hard border between the north and south of Ireland, in line with a 1998 peace agreement.

Overriding the protocol, the bill would let the UK create a “green channel” for British traders to send goods to Northern Ireland without making any customs declaration to the EU.

The EU would have access to more real-time UK data on the flow of goods, and only businesses intending to trade into the single market via Ireland would be required to make declarations.

Britain has vowed “robust penalties” for any companies seeking to abuse the new system, but would also remove oversight of the protocol by the European Court of Justice — another red line for Brussels.

Britain also risks antagonising the United States, which helped broker the 1998 Good Friday Agreement.

But Northern Ireland Secretary Brandon Lewis has been briefing the US administration along with officials in Dublin and Brussels, to prepare the ground for the new bill, Johnson’s spokesman said.

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Sinn Fein leader alleges Tory 'games' over N.Ireland

The leader of Irish nationalist party Sinn Fein on Sunday accused UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson of sacrificing Northern Ireland to shore up his own enfeebled position.

Johnson’s government will on Monday introduce legislation to rewrite its post-Brexit commitments on Northern Ireland, but denied that it was breaking its treaty obligations to the European Union.

Northern Ireland Secretary Brandon Lewis insisted the bill was “lawful” and necessary to fix problems in the EU protocol, so as to restore a power-sharing government in the troubled territory.

But Sinn Fein’s all-Ireland president Mary Lou McDonald said the bill would unilaterally break the UK’s EU withdrawal treaty, and pointed to Johnson’s narrow escape in a Conservative leadership vote last Monday.

“It is disgraceful to use the north of Ireland, to use Ireland, as a bargaining chip,” she told Sky News, accusing the Conservatives of “games and gamesmanship”.

The government’s proposals were rather “designed to boost the ego, the leadership ambitions of either Boris Johnson or one of his would-be successors”, McDonald added.

“It’s dishonourable stuff, by any measure extraordinary stuff.”

Lewis, also speaking in a Sky interview, said the Northern Ireland Protocol was disrupting trade and lacked support from the territory’s pro-UK unionist parties.

“So it’s right that we repair that,” he said, adding that the need to protect a 1998 peace agreement in Northern Ireland had “primacy” over the protocol.

McDonald countered that public opinion and most lawmakers in Northern Ireland backed the protocol.

“Brandon Lewis is talking through his hat, and not for the first time,” she said, accusing the government of “undermining, attacking and damaging the (1998) Good Friday Agreement”.

In a historic first, Sinn Fein emerged as the biggest party in Northern Ireland elections last month.

But the Democratic Unionist Party argues that the protocol is jeopardising Northern Ireland’s status in the UK and is boycotting the local government, leaving it in limbo under the 1998 deal.

The protocol requires checks on goods arriving from England, Scotland and Wales, to prevent them entering the EU’s single market via the Republic of Ireland.

The UK bill is expected to scrap most of the checks, creating a “green channel” for British traders to send goods to Northern Ireland without making any customs declaration to the EU.

Since the confidence vote, Johnson has reportedly been under pressure from pro-Brexit Tory hardliners to toughen the bill and remove oversight of the protocol by the European Court of Justice.

Lewis declined to be drawn on the details before the bill is introduced in parliament on Monday, but said the EU was being “disingenuous” in its claims that it had shown flexibility.

Irish Foreign Minister Simon Coveney, however, said Thursday that opposition to Britain’s tactics had “hardened” across EU capitals, querying whether it was “serious about a negotiated solution”.

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UK sets up EU battle with N.Ireland changes

The UK government will Monday introduce legislation to unilaterally rip up post-Brexit trading rules for Northern Ireland, despite the potential for a trade war with the EU.

London says it still prefers a negotiated outcome with the European Union to reform the “Northern Ireland Protocol”, whose provisions have become anathema to pro-UK unionists in the divided territory.

But absent a deal through dialogue, the bill would take effect to override Britain’s EU withdrawal treaty — although the government insists it is not breaking international law.

Northern Ireland Secretary Brandon Lewis said Sunday that the protocol was disrupting trade and had crippled the territory’s power-sharing government, due to unionist objections.

“So it’s right that we repair that,” he said, adding that the need to protect a 1998 peace agreement in Northern Ireland had “primacy” over the protocol.

Lewis rejected threats from some in the EU that unilateral changes could trigger the suspension of the withdrawal treaty’s wider trade agreement, leading to sanctions and tariffs against Britain.

The UK can ill-afford a trade war, at a time when its people are grappling with the worst inflationary crisis in a generation.

“I think that kind of language is really unhelpful,” the minister said on Times Radio, pointing to the need for Britain and the EU to work together against Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

However, on the EU side, patience with Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s tactics is wearing thin, according to Ireland’s government.

Irish nationalist party Sinn Fein on Sunday accused Johnson of sacrificing stability in Northern Ireland for his own survival, after he narrowly won a Conservative confidence vote last week.

“It’s dishonourable stuff, by any measure extraordinary stuff,” Sinn Fein’s all-Ireland president Mary Lou McDonald said on Sky.

“Brandon Lewis is talking through his hat, and not for the first time,” she added, accusing the government of “undermining, attacking and damaging the (1998) Good Friday Agreement”.

– Green channel, red line –

In a historic first, Sinn Fein emerged as the biggest party in Northern Ireland elections last month.

But the Democratic Unionist Party argues that the protocol is jeopardising Northern Ireland’s status in the UK and is boycotting the local government, leaving it in limbo under the 1998 deal.

The protocol requires checks on goods arriving from England, Scotland and Wales, to prevent them from entering the EU’s single market via the Republic of Ireland.

The UK bill is expected to scrap most of the checks, creating a “green channel” for British traders to send goods to Northern Ireland without making any customs declaration to the EU.

The EU would have access to more real-time UK data on the flow of goods, and only businesses intending to trade into the single market via Ireland would be required to make declarations.

The EU would need to trust the UK to monitor the flow, and Britain has vowed “robust penalties” for any companies seeking to abuse the new system.

Since the confidence vote, Johnson has reportedly been under pressure from pro-Brexit Tory hardliners to toughen the bill and remove oversight of the protocol by the European Court of Justice.

Lewis said there was “no logic” to having only one side’s judges involved in a bilateral trade arrangement, but ECJ invigilation is a red line for the EU, to protect its single market.

Britain’s opposition Labour party said the government was in no position to claim its handling of the Brexit dispute was lawful.

“This government seems to be developing a record for lawbreaking,” Labour’s shadow finance minister Rachel Reeves said, after Johnson was fined over one of many Downing Street lockdown parties.

“We helped bring in the Good Friday Agreement, we are deeply, passionately committed to it,” she added.

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