MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 21st September, 2022) UK Prime Minister Liz Truss' initiative to partly break the Brexit arrangements for Northern Ireland may cause a revolt in the House of Lords, the UK upper house of parliament, which is concerned over ministers' "dictatorial powers" to ink and pass laws without approval, The Guardian reported on Wednesday.
About 50 UK lawmakers from the Conservative, Labour and other parties are set to meet on Wednesday to discuss the possible amendments to the Northern Ireland Protocol, reached as a part of the Brexit agreement on customs borders, which has already been passed through the upper house, the report said.
"My concern is not so much the Brexit issue, but the constitutional issue. The Henry VIII powers are extraordinary here. In my view we would turn the country into an elected dictatorship rather than a parliamentary democracy and I don't use those words lightly," a lawmaker was quoted as saying by the newspaper.
Another lawmaker said that the parliament "is going to give a carte blanche" to the ministers to "do whatever they want to do without any explanation, including breaking international law," the report added.
The date of the protocol's second reading has not been appointed yet, according to the newspaper.
The UK and the EU completed the Brexit transition in January 2021, when a trade and cooperation agreement between the parties came into effect. Under the terms of the deal, the UK left the single market and the EU customs union. Northern Ireland also left the EU as part of the UK, but remained in the European single market and customs unions.
Under the Northern Ireland Protocol, all goods and animal-based products coming from the rest of the British territories must be checked upon arrival to Northern Ireland to ensure their compatibility with EU sanitary regulations.
In June, the UK government introduced a bill unilaterally revising the provisions of the Northern Ireland Protocol, arguing that the deal is not working, as it causes delays and interruptions to goods moving between the UK and Northern Ireland. This move drew the ire of the EU and pushed Brussels to take legal action against London.
The bill stipulates the establishment of a "green channel" for goods transported from the UK to Northern Ireland, as well as the change in the tax rules, stripping the European Court of its role as the sole arbiter of disputes.
