EU's chief negotiator Michel Barnier has arrived in the UK ahead of crunch Brexit talks.
He arrived ahead of the latest round of talks on a post-Brexit trade deal which will continue in London today between the EU’s chief negotiator Michel Barnier and the UK’s Lord Frost.
His arrival comes on the day that controversial legislation which would override elements of Boris Johnson’s Brexit deal with Brussels and breach international law is set to be published.
Downing Street had insisted changes in the Internal Market Bill were simply “limited clarifications” to protect the Northern Ireland peace process if they failed to secure a free trade deal with the EU.
A series of senior Conservatives have expressed dismay, warning the move risks undermining Britain’s standing and reputation as an upholder of international law.
Tobias Ellwood, chairman of the Commons Defence Committee, said that if the Government went through with the changes to the agreement – which secured the UK’s departure from the EU in January – it would “lose the moral high ground”.
Shadow lord chancellor and justice secretary David Lammy has urged his opposite number Robert Buckland to “protect the rule of law” after the Government announced plans to override the Brexit Withdrawal Agreement in legislation.
In a letter shared on Twitter, Mr Lammy wrote: “Dear Robert, in your role as Lord Chancellor, you have a sworn duty to respect the rule of law. Maintaining the sanctity of the rule of law has been central to your position for more than 400 years.”
READ MORE: Brexit: How European media reacted to Boris Johnson's bid to change the withdrawal agreement
He continued: “What steps do you plan to take to protect the rule of law from attack from inside your own government? If you fail to prevent the government from breaking the rule of law, will you stand by your oath to respect the rule of law by breaking cabinet responsibility on this matter?”
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel