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Explainer-in-brief: the new Brexit wars over Northern Ireland

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National Memorial Event Marks The 40th Anniversary Of The Falklands War
STAFFORD, ENGLAND – JUNE 14: Prime Minister Boris Johnson at the National Memorial Arboretum in Alrewas, Staffordshire before a service to mark the 40th anniversary of the liberation of the Falkland Islands on June 14, 2022 in Stafford, England. The Falklands War between the UK and Argentina began on April 2, 1982, when Argentine forces invaded and occupied the Falkland Islands situated in the South Atlantic. They then occupied South Georgia, another British overseas territory. The UK successfully defended the Islands and the war ended 74 days later on 14 June, 1982, with 225 British fatalities. (Photo by Jacob King – WPA Pool/Getty Images)

On Monday, the government introduced a bill that allows it to change parts of the Northern Ireland Protocol, which governs post-Brexit trade rules on the island of Ireland. On Tuesday, the EU started devising retaliatory legal action. Here come the new Brexit battles, with a potential trade war

in sight. Amongst the areas of contention are VAT changes and customs and food safety.

The government says it is acting to support political stability in Northern Ireland. The Democratic Unionist Party there doesn’t recognise the original  Protocol, and refuses to get into a power-sharing agreement with Sinn Fein until it is overhauled.

Hard-line Brexiteers, meanwhile, are not convinced it goes far enough and will decide in the next few days whether to back it.

The bill might be found to breach international law, causing discontent among the One Nation Tories, even as the government tries to justify the legislation as a “necessity”.