Earlier this week, MPs voted to give the legislation a second reading, with the bill aimed at ignoring parts of the post-Brexit agreement on trade arrangements in Northern Ireland. But the decision of the British government to proceed with this step caused a furious setback by many, who considered it illegal and a clear violation of international law. The EU has repeatedly warned Britain that it will retaliate in the strongest possible way if the UK decides to continue with the legislation.
There are now fears that a brutal trade war could break out between the two sides at a time when millions of Britons are already struggling with the cost-of-living crisis.
Alistair Jones, associate professor of politics at De Montfort University in Leicester, warned that relations between the UK and the EU were now “falling further”.
But the biggest problem for the UK will be how the rest of the world views the escalating situation, with Britain now seen as a “protagonist” because it wants to violate a treaty previously approved by its own parliament.
The political expert told Express.co.uk: “In terms of the relationship with the EU, the adoption of this bill is going to have a detrimental impact. Levels of trust between the EU and the UK are falling further.
“Both sides claim to be making concessions and the other side is accusing them of not doing so. In this, both are talking past each other.
“The issue is how the rest of the world sees things. In this, the UK is seen as the protagonist.
“It is the UK that has failed to fully implement the Northern Ireland Protocol, while the EU has extended the grace period.
“It is the British government that wants to violate a treaty approved by its parliament.”
Professor Jones believes the UK has taken the “core option” as opposed to activating and implementing Article 16 of the protocol, which he believes would have been the better option.
He warned that the UK’s action unilaterally on the international agreement “is an action that Margaret Thatcher or any other British Prime Minister would never have shown”.
The politics professor explained: “In all of this, the British government seems to have gone for the nuclear option.
“The process of activating and implementing Article 16 of the Northern Ireland Protocol could have been a better way forward, with the UK Government specifying which parts of the Withdrawal Agreement are causing problems for the Northern Ireland economy.
Some of the proposed solutions, such as Red and Green Lanes for goods going to Northern Ireland (or further to the EU internal market), have led to positive sounds from the EU.
“All this will be lost if the Northern Ireland Protocol Bill becomes law.
“The United Kingdom acting unilaterally on an international agreement is an action that Margaret Thatcher or any other British Prime Minister would never have accepted.”
Several questions have been raised in recent weeks about the legality of the Northern Ireland Protocol Bill, with many experts claiming it is in breach of international law.
But when his MPs addressed the House of Commons last week, Foreign Minister Liz Truss defended legal advice in support of the bill.
She said: “We have set out the matter extremely clearly in the legal advice and the doctrine of necessity has been used in the past by other governments where there is a serious issue and the other party is not willing to renegotiate that treaty.”