Politics

Matt Hancock says breaking the law is fine, while telling you to obey the law


Matt Hancock has said he is “comfortable” with the government breaking international law over Brexit – despite telling millions to obey the law over coronavirus.

The Health Secretary was confronted over the apparent hypocrisy as Boris Johnson prepares to rip up parts of his Brexit deal – signed with the EU last year.

A new Internal Markets Bill, to be published today, will hand UK ministers direct power to decide which goods need tariffs paid or forms filled in when traded between Britain and Northern Ireland.

That’s despite the Withdrawal Agreement promising the EU and UK would decide the matter jointly.

Cabinet Minister Brandon Lewis prompted Tory fury yesterday when he admitted the Bill would breach international law in a “specific and limited way”.

Boris Johnson has prompted fury by ripping up parts of his ‘oven-ready’ deal

Theresa May was among MPs who protested, as critics said the plan risked undermining the UK on the world stage and torpedoing future trade deals.

Ex-Chancellor George Osborne also slapped down claims his own Finance Act of 2013 justified breaking the law.

And Tory MP Sir Bob Neill said: “Any breach, or potential breach, of the international legal obligations we have entered into is unacceptable, regardless of whether it’s in a ‘specific’ or ‘limited way’. Adherence to the rule of law is not negotiable.”

Asked if he was comfortable with the Government breaking the law, Mr Hancock told Times Radio: “I am.“

He added: “The primary international obligation around this issues is to protect the peace process in Northern Ireland.

“And I very much hope we conclude a deal before the end of the transition period.”

He added: “To govern is to choose and I choose peace in Northern Ireland”.

But the Health Secretary dismissed the idea that people could break coronavirus social distancing rules in the same “very specific and limited way”.

Mr Hancock has set out a new law banning social gatherings of more than six people in England from Monday – with offenders facing £100 fines.

Asked if people could those rules in a “specific and limited way”, the Health Secretary told Times Radio: “No.

“This is incredibly important for keeping people safe, it is incredibly important for stopping the spread and therefore protecting education, protecting work.

He added: “To govern is to choose and I choose peace in Northern Ireland”

“Obviously we are trying to protect livelihoods and protect education while stopping the spread of the virus.”

Critics have raised doubts over the government’s claim the move will protect peace in Northern Ireland.

They said Boris Johnson should have worked out the kinks in his Withdrawal Agreement before ramming it through parliament.

A former Cabinet minister told the BBC: “I cannot allow anyone to get away with saying the govt is doing this to protect the peace process.

“This does the precise opposite. It is about the internal market in the UK and is more likely to lead to a harder border which will imperil the peace process.”

Sir Keir Starmer urged Mr Johnson not to “reopen old wounds” and to instead “get a deal, move on and concentrate on defeating (coronavirus)”.

Labour’s leader told Sky News: “What the Government is proposing is wrong, I think that’s plain for everybody to see. But we need to step back here and focus on getting a deal.

The new Bill today will change how goods can be traded from Britain to Belfast

“There’s certainly a case to be made that this is all just being used as leverage in the negotiations and that’s wrong in principle.

“Getting a deal is in the national interest, that’s what the public want, that’s what they were promised. The outstanding issues are not difficult, they can be resolved.

“A deal can be struck in the next few weeks, the issues outstanding are not unsurmountable. To have no deal would be a failure of negotiation, a failure that has to be owned by the Prime Minister.”

Questions have been raised over the future of Justice Secretary Robert Buckland and Attorney General Suella Braverman after the Brexit move.

The Government’s top legal official quit on Tuesday, reportedly in protest at the move.

However a source close to Mr Buckland said he was not planning to resign.





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