As the British government unveil a new law that will override a crucial part on the 2019 Withdrawal Agreement on the customs arrangement in the North of Ireland, GUE/NGL has issued the following statement:

“The British government have embarked on a reckless course of action in threatening to override parts of the Withdrawal Agreement, adopted in the House of Commons nine months ago. This is the act of a desperate government.”

“They are not only undermining the economic well-being of the whole island of Ireland, but also undermining the hard-won gains of the peace process and the political process in Ireland.

“If the British government believe that such threats will coerce the EU into allowing them to cherry-pick a trade agreement then they have miscalculated very badly.

“The Withdrawal Agreement is a legally binding international treaty. Its repudiation would demonstrate to the world that the British government cannot be trusted to honour any trade agreement they sign up to in future.

“We call upon the international community, together with progressive and democratic forces in Britain, to come to the rescue of the Good Friday Agreement, and insist that the British government respect their commitments.”

Martin Schirdewan, GUE/NGL co-president and a member of the European Parliament’s coordination group on Brexit, added:

“If Boris Johnson fails to implement the Withdrawal Agreement in its entirety, then the decisive precondition of a future agreement cannot be met. Under these circumstances, there will not be any agreement with the British government.”