Former Taoiseach John Bruton has come out strongly against the UK government’s moves to introduce a bill that could allow for the unilateral suspension of the Northern Ireland (NI) Protocol.

Bruton told the Irish Farmers Journal's Future of Europe event that “the penny has to drop in Britain” on the implications of taking such a view of the Brexit negotiations, before calling on the UK to pursue a “more reasoned” approach to the politics surrounding the discussions.

Describing the Protocol as an “imperfect instrument designed to deal with a fundamentally imperfect situation”, the former Taoiseach rejected what he said were worries within the DUP that the Protocol was the first move towards a united Ireland.

Single market threat

Emeritus Professor at the European Institute Brigid Laffan stated that the North was being “closely watched” by Europe to ensure that the trading standards laid out in the Protocol were maintained.

Should these rules be broken and NI be used as a backdoor to import sub-standard products into the EU, other member states would move quickly to impose stricter checks and controls on the movement of goods either on the north-south border or at Irish ports, potentially threatening Irish participation in the single market.

They will not tolerate Northern Ireland being used as a smuggling nirvana

“The other member states - particularly France - will not tolerate serious threats to the single market. They will not tolerate Northern Ireland being used as a smuggling nirvana to get sub-standard products into Europe,” commented Laffan.

Bruton added that it should become an imperative of the Irish Government to push for as much representation at a European level as possible, so as to push national interests and viewpoints in any Brexit negotiations.

‘Amoral’ leaders

Laffan was cutting in her remarks on the UK government’s moves on the Protocol when addressing the Irish Farmers Journal event.

They are a rogue state

“They are trying to void the Protocol. They are trying to basically tear up an international agreement that has the sovereign signature of the UK. I think that is a rogue state. They are a rogue state,” she claimed.

The researcher summarised her views on unilateral action on the Protocol through Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s proposed law: “It is illegal. It is illegal under international law.”

Laffan stated that the prime minister's actions put his personal interests before those of the people of NI or even the UK as a whole.

Instead, she argued, he only remains attentive to his own voter ratings, which leaves the longer-term strategy of the current UK government questionable.

“Boris Johnson is amoral. He has no moral compass. He doesn’t do strategy; he doesn’t do planning. He has no idea where the new law will end up that he is putting on the table and he cares less.

“The first thing to remember in this country is that Boris Johnson does not give a damn about NI and does not give a damn about the island of Ireland,” Laffan told attendees.

Farmers turning against the UK government

The Irish Farmers Journal discussion on the Future of Europe also heard that farmers are turning against the UK government over its handling of Brexit.

“I think the Tiverton by-election on last night was major, because we saw a very agricultural constituency do a huge swing away from the [UK] government and that is caused by the British handling of Brexit,” Bruton went on.

“Thanks to Brexit, they can’t get labour; thanks to Brexit they are facing competition from Australia and they’re facing a much, much lesser system of agricultural supports.

“The heartland of Tory Britain has woken up and would hope that if that’s the effect, that in a leadership transition in the Tory party, it would be a transition to a more reasoning approach to Brexit,” he said.