Brexit: Johnson misses EU deadline to explain the breach of international law

BORIS Johnson is facing further legal action from the EU after he missed a deadline to explain why he is planning to break international law over Northern Ireland.

At the start of October, the European Commission sent a letter of formal notice to the UK over the prime minister’s planned Internal Market Bill, which breaches the Brexit agreement signed earlier this year.

The European Commission confirmed on Tuesday that the deadline to respond to the letter has now come and gone without a UK response, meaning the court action against the UK will move to the next phase.

Ministers have already admitted in parliament that the bill will break international law, but say the policy is justified because the law would only be broken in a “limited and specific” way.

The bill would overrule the withdrawal agreement Mr Johnson signed by banning border checks on goods moving from Northern Ireland to Great Britain, which are set to commence under the agreement from 31 December. The prime minister had signed up to the union’s customs code to get a deal but now says Britain should be exempt from parts of it.

Brussels says the dispute has to be resolved if Britain wants a free trade agreement, which is being negotiated in intensive parallel talks between the two sides.