The bill takes unilateral steps – effectively invalidating parts of the Brexit divorce agreement – to resolve a row with the EU over handling of customs rules for goods transported between Great Britain and Northern Ireland.
Truss acknowledged that the bill, which has been heavily criticized by political opponents in Britain and the European Union, will take time to pass through parliament’s upper house, where the government does not have a majority.
Because according to opinion polls, it is far away previously Truss is expected to appoint his rival, Rishi Sunak, as prime minister in September. However, in terms of EU relations, this is unlikely to lead to much change compared to the current Prime Minister Boris Johnson.
As we reported yesterday, the UK is launching a formal dispute settlement procedure against the EU, accusing the EU of breaching a post-Brexit trade deal by blocking access to three international science programmes.
Asked about the guarantee he could offer that he would not bow to those in the EU or the US who would oppose the proposed legislation if he was elected prime minister, Truss said:
I took the responsibility of negotiating the Northern Ireland Protocol and against a lot of advice in Whitehall and against the wishes of some of the people I mentioned – and I made it very clear to people like Nancy Pelosi what exactly I thought and what exactly we should do – I kept negotiating.
Rishi Sunak, another prime ministerial candidate and former finance minister, saidthat there is not much disagreement between him and Truss regarding the necessity of adopting legislation, but If elected, he will “of course” see if a negotiated outcome with the EU cannot be reached.
earlier He. SheWe wrote about what we can know about the chameleon of British politics and what Europe, America, Russia and China can expect from him:
Cover photo credit: P Scaasi / MI News / NurPhoto via Getty Images
