AFP, London :
Britain’s government on Thursday defied threats from the European Union of legal action over contentious Brexit legislation, and pushed back against a brewing revolt within its own ranks for violating the binding divorce treaty.
The UK bill has further complicated the already messy Brexit process, as Britain unpicks nearly 50 years of European integration, and European Commission vice president Maros Sefcovic rushed to London to demand clarification.
The new bill’s potential implications for Northern Ireland – which is meant to enjoy a special status after Brexit – also prompted a threatening reminder from powerful US Democrat Nancy Pelosi for London to uphold the troubled territory’s peace process.
Serving MPs and grandees of Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s Conservatives, including former prime minister John Major and ex-party leader Michael Howard, issued their own sharply-worded reminders that the rule of law is sacrosanct.
“How can we reproach Russia or China or Iran when their conduct falls below internationally accepted standards, when we are showing such scant regard for our treaty obligations?” Howard told the upper chamber House of Lords.
Britain’s government on Thursday defied threats from the European Union of legal action over contentious Brexit legislation, and pushed back against a brewing revolt within its own ranks for violating the binding divorce treaty.
The UK bill has further complicated the already messy Brexit process, as Britain unpicks nearly 50 years of European integration, and European Commission vice president Maros Sefcovic rushed to London to demand clarification.
The new bill’s potential implications for Northern Ireland – which is meant to enjoy a special status after Brexit – also prompted a threatening reminder from powerful US Democrat Nancy Pelosi for London to uphold the troubled territory’s peace process.
Serving MPs and grandees of Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s Conservatives, including former prime minister John Major and ex-party leader Michael Howard, issued their own sharply-worded reminders that the rule of law is sacrosanct.
“How can we reproach Russia or China or Iran when their conduct falls below internationally accepted standards, when we are showing such scant regard for our treaty obligations?” Howard told the upper chamber House of Lords.
At the meeting, Sefcovic told senior British minister Michael Gove that unless the measures were withdrawn “by the end of the month”, Brussels would consider going to court.
The European Commission warned that Britain “has seriously damaged trust between the EU and the UK”, and scorned Downing Street’s contention that the bill will preserve the peace in Northern Ireland.
“In fact,” the statement said, Brussels “is of the view that it does the opposite”.
The British government, however, signalled no retreat.
