The UK's Labour Party said the country was trashing its reputation by willingly breaking international law following an announcement from the government refused to withdraw a bill which breaches the terms of the withdrawal agreement it signed with the European Union.
“The unvarnished truth is that the UK is breaking international law and trashing the UK’s reputation in the world in the process”, Labour’s top legal spokesman Charlie Falconer said in a statement on Thursday
Lord Falconer added that the move would have "big consequences" for the UK in the future.
The government admitted its plan to introduce a new Brexit trade bill does break international law.
— Good Morning Britain (@GMB) September 9, 2020
Labour's Lord Charlie Falconer says it 'trashes Britain's reputation as a country which complies with the law.'@SwainITV is in Westminster this morning. pic.twitter.com/kZxPEMOlqr
The UK government has said that it will attempt to rewrite sections of the Northern Ireland Protocol, included in the legally-binding Withdrawal Agreement signed with the EU in January to prevent the erection of a hard border on the island of Ireland while establishing a customs border in the Irish Sea.
Government ministers have openly acknowledged that this move would break international law.
Brussels has warned that the UK's new Internal Market Bill would act as a “clear breach” of the original 2019 agreement, and would lead to the end of trade negotiations.
The UK formally exited the bloc on 31 January and will withdraw from the Single Market and Customs Union after the current transition period ends on 31 December.
