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Boris Johnson’s plan to scrap Northern Ireland Protocol must be put into law, warns DUP

Boris Johnson was clearly impressed during a visit to Thales, a defence and security company, in Belfast - PA
Boris Johnson was clearly impressed during a visit to Thales, a defence and security company, in Belfast - PA

Boris Johnson has been warned by the DUP that plans to override the Northern Ireland Protocol - due to be announced on Tuesday - may not convince it to agree to power-sharing in Stormont.

The Prime Minister is expected to sign off plans to create a law allowing the UK to unilaterally suspend parts of the agreement, which sets post-Brexit trade rules in the province.

But, crucially, the UK is not expected to publish in full legislation being prepared or lay it before Parliament, which would kick-start the process of getting it passed into law.

Sir Jeffrey Donaldson, the leader of the DUP - the Unionist party refusing to join the Northern Ireland Executive without major changes to the Protocol - indicated it was not enough.

Speaking after face to face talks with Mr Johnson, Sir Jeffrey said: “I don’t see much point of having legislation if you're not going to table it. Legislation only becomes law when it is enacted by Parliament.”

He added later: "The tabling of legislation is words. What I need is decisive action. And that means I want to see the Government enacting legislation that will bring the solution that we need.”

Sir Jeffrey Donaldson, centre, told the Prime Minister he needed to see 'decisive action' - Charles McQuillan/Getty Images
Sir Jeffrey Donaldson, centre, told the Prime Minister he needed to see 'decisive action' - Charles McQuillan/Getty Images

The comments suggested that the DUP may only change its position on power-sharing once the proposed legislation is passed into law. Officials fear that could take more than a year.

A Foreign Office source familiar with the plans suggested that the legislation will be published before the summer.

The Prime Minister spent the day in Belfast on Monday talking to the leaders of five political parties in an attempt to secure a power-sharing deal in Stormont.

Sinn Féin, which believes in a united Ireland, won the Northern Irish elections earlier this month - overturning decades of political dominance by Unionist parties.

The DUP has refused to agree to share power - something needed in the province’s unique constitutional set-up - as it holds out for major changes to the Protocol.

The Protocol was an agreement struck between the UK and Brussels to keep the land border on the island of Ireland after Brexit, with customs checks instead carried out on goods passing across the Irish Sea.

Speaking after his talks, Mr Johnson said that all five political parties want reforms to how the Protocol is working, given it is creating friction in trade with the UK mainland.

The Prime Minister publicly confirmed he backed a push led by Liz Truss, the Foreign Secretary, to work up a new law - saying the UK would move forward with a “legislative solution”.

Mr Johnson said of the Protocol on Monday: “We don’t want to scrap it but we think it can be fixed. And actually, five of the five parties I talked to today also think it needs reform.”

Protesters gathered as Boris Johnson met political leaders in Northern Ireland on Monday - Charles McQuillan/Getty Images
Protesters gathered as Boris Johnson met political leaders in Northern Ireland on Monday - Charles McQuillan/Getty Images

Ms Truss is due to make the announcement on the legislation to the House of Commons on Tuesday, providing she secures sign-off from the Cabinet in the morning.

On Monday, the Foreign Secretary had a call with Nancy Pelosi, the speaker of the US House of Representatives - who has warned the UK against reneging on its Brexit obligations.

She also spoke to Maros Sefcovic, her EU counterpart, on the phone on Monday, ahead of the publication of her plans to override the Protocol.

She said in a tweet:

Among a number of aims of the legislative move is convincing the DUP to agree to share power in Stormont, but an immediate breakthrough on that front looks unlikely.

One source familiar with the DUP leadership's thinking told The Telegraph: “If the Government thinks that by saying they’re going to publish something that will resolve the problems in Northern Ireland, then no they won’t. That is not going to cut it for people.

“Boris has already made commitments and hasn’t delivered them. Most people will say: ‘Sorry, we’ve been here before. Once bitten, twice shy.'”

Lord Dodds, the former DUP leader, said: “The mood within Unionism is very clear now. It’s either the Protocol or it’s the Belfast/Good Friday Agreement - you can’t have both.”

Mary Lou McDonald, the Sinn Féin president who opposes the UK taking unilateral action over the Protocol, criticised the Prime Minister after their meeting.

She said: “We did not manage to convince him of the error of his ways, but be very, very clear that we will persist on these matters.”

Left to right, Conor Murphy, Mary Lou McDonald and Michelle O'Neill speaking after they met with Boris Johnson - Liam McBurney/PA Wire
Left to right, Conor Murphy, Mary Lou McDonald and Michelle O'Neill speaking after they met with Boris Johnson - Liam McBurney/PA Wire

Simon Coveney, Ireland's foreign minister, who was in Brussels on Monday for talks with EU counterparts, warned that the entire UK-EU Trade and Co-operation Agreement (TCA) could be jeopardised if Mr Johnson takes unilateral action on the Protocol.

Mr Coveney said: "This is a time for calmness, it's a time for dialogue, it's a time for compromise and partnership between the EU and the UK to solve these outstanding issues.

"If that is the approach taken by the British Government, then we can make significant progress and we can make progress quickly to respond to the concerns of both the business community and the unionist community in Northern Ireland.

"That alternative is unilateral action which means tension, rancour, stand-offs, legal challenges and of course calls into question the functioning of the TCA itself, because the TCA and the Withdrawal Agreement are interlinked, they rely on each other.

"That is the last thing Europe needs right now, when we are working so well together in the face of Russian aggression and responding to the support needed for Ukraine at this time."

European Union figures are expected to spell out the consequences of the UK's new move once it is announced on Tuesday.