Boris Johnson has said he would find it “very difficult” to vote for Rishi Sunak’s new Brexit deal on Northern Ireland, claiming it is “not about taking back control”.
The former prime minister, speaking for the first time on the new arrangements that replace his Northern Ireland Protocol, said the new Windsor Framework still means having to follow EU laws.
“I’m going to find it very difficult to vote for something like this myself because I believe that we should have done something different. No matter how much plaster came off the ceiling in Brussels,” he said.
Mr Johnson said he hopes the new deal works but if it doesn’t, the government should have “the guts” to table his controversial Northern Ireland Protocol Bill – which would allow the UK to rip up part of his Brexit agreement without the EU’s permission.
He said he was in “no doubt” the threat of this action “is what brought the EU to negotiate seriously”.
The ex-PM conceded he made mistakes in signing his Northern Ireland Protocol that caused the DUP to walk out of powersharing a year ago because of trade barriers in the Irish Sea.
“I thought those checks would not be onerous since there isn’t that much stuff that falls into that category; most of the goods stay in Northern Ireland,” he said.
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Muttering, the former prime minister added: “It’s all my fault, I fully accept responsibility.”
The new deal struck by Mr Sunak aims to reduce those checks with a green and red lane system that separates goods staying in the UK from those moving onto the EU via the Republic of Ireland.
Another key element of the framework is the “Stormont Brake” that will allow the UK to veto changes in EU goods laws from applying in Northern Ireland.
Mr Johnson said he had “mixed feelings” about the new agreement.
“I’m conscious I’m not going to be thanked for saying this, but I think it is my job to do so: we must be clear about what is really going on here,” he said.
“This is not about the UK taking back control, and although there are easements this is really a version of the solution that was being offered last year to Liz Truss when she was foreign secretary.
“This is the EU graciously unbending to allow us to do what we want to do in our own country, not by our laws but by theirs.”
