Brexiteers condemn Macron ‘posturing’ over Northern Ireland

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Brexiteers today condemned Emmanuel Macron for ‘posturing’ over Northern Ireland after he vowed the protocol will not be renegotiated.

Tories voiced fury at the obstructive stance from Mr Macron and demanded ‘pragmatism’ amid fears the trade rules are fuelling sectarian tensions in the province.   

Ramping up the so-called ‘sausage war’, the French president said it was ‘not serious’ to want to change the arrangements so quickly.

‘I think it’s not serious to want to review in June what we finalised after years of debate and work in December,’ he said,  adding that he will discuss the situation with Mr Johnson during a bilateral meeting at the G7 summit today.

But Mr Johnson sounded defiance today, boosted by Joe Biden seemingly backing off a confrontation in their talks, insisting the trade rules are ‘excessively burdensome’.

And Tory MP David Jones told MailOnline: ‘It is posturing. He’s actually been posturing for quite a long time.

‘He’s in a very precarious position domestically and quite clearly he is attempting to show toughness as a way of boosting his chances in the approach to the presidential election.

‘Given that the UK and the US both agree that pragmatism is necessary, I would imagine that the EU will pay attention and, if so, he is going to be out of step with the rest of the bloc.’  

The row over the Northern Ireland Protocol have been threatening to overshadow the G7 gathering at Carbis Bay.

Mr Biden and Mr Johnson insisted they were in ‘complete harmony’ last night as they tried to sweep away explosive claims of an eve-of-summit diplomatic row. 

After their first face-to-face talks, the Prime Minister said he and President Biden shared ‘common ground’ over maintaining Ulster peace and the Good Friday Agreement.

Brussels is threatening to retaliate if Britain takes unilateral action to continue the flow of British-produced chilled meats to Northern Ireland when a grace period ends this month.

Britain accused the EU of adopting a ‘purist’ approach to the Brexit withdrawal deal in Northern Ireland amid warnings that sales of sausages from the rest of the UK could be blocked. 

Mr Johnson, who will hold talks with EU leaders over the course of the G7 summit, told the BBC: ‘You will understand that there are ways of enforcing the protocol, ways of making it work, that may be excessively burdensome.

‘I just give you one statistic: 20% of the checks conducted across the whole of the perimeter of the EU are now done in Northern Ireland, three times as many as happen in Rotterdam.’

The new post-Brexit arrangements came into effect on January 1 and the dispute is still simmering, but Mr Johnson insisted ‘I think we can sort it out’.

Downing Street has been urging Brussels to show ‘common sense and pragmatism’.

The appeal came after European Commission vice president Maros Sefcovic said the EU would act ‘swiftly, firmly and resolutely’ if the UK tried to backtrack on its obligations under the deal.

It came amid reports Britain is ready to act unilaterally to delay imposition of checks on chilled meats such as sausages and chicken nuggets coming to Northern Ireland from Great Britain when the current ‘grace period’ expires at the end of June.

While the Prime Minister’s official spokesman refused to be drawn on what steps the Government would take if there was no agreement by that point, he insisted there was no justification for barring chilled meats from Northern Irish shops.

‘Any ban would be contrary to the aims of the protocol and the interests of the people of Northern Ireland,’ the spokesman said.

‘The protocol was a compromise. We didn’t expect the EU to take a purist approach when implementing it. We are working very hard to try to resolve these issues consensually.

‘The Prime Minister has always made clear we will consider all our options in meeting our responsibility to sustain peace and prosperity in Northern Ireland.

‘We hope that the EU will show the common sense and pragmatism needed to make progress.’

His comments came after Environment Secretary George Eustice dismissed the idea of controls on the movement of chilled meats between the rest of the UK and Northern Ireland as ‘bonkers’.

‘I think that’s a nonsense. I think we’ve got a very good sausage industry in this country, we’ve got the highest standards of food hygiene in the world,’ he told LBC.

Earlier, Mr Sefcovic raised the prospect of a trade war – with Brussels imposing tariffs and quotas on British exports – if the UK failed to meet its international obligations under the the Northern Ireland Protocol.

The deal – intended to ensure there is no return to a hard border with the Republic – means that Northern Ireland remains part of the EU single market, which in turn requires checks on some goods coming from Great Britain.

But Mr Sefcovic – who will hold talks with Brexit minister Lord Frost on Wednesday – said there had been ‘numerous and fundamental gaps’ in the UK’s implementation of the agreement.

Writing in The Daily Telegraph, he said that if Britain took further unilateral actions the EU ‘will not be shy in reacting swiftly, firmly and resolutely to ensure that the UK abides by its international law obligations’.

Asked yesterday if the President had made his alarm about the situation with the Northern Ireland Protocol clear, Mr Johnson said simply: ‘No, he didn’t.’

He added: ‘What I can say is that America – the United States, Washington – the UK, plus the European Union, have one thing we absolutely all want to do and that is to uphold the Belfast Good Friday Agreement and make sure we keep the balance of the peace process going. That’s absolutely common ground and I’m optimistic that we can do that.’

Meanwhile, a senior US administration official also tried to play down the row yesterday, insisting that the President had not come ‘to give a lecture’ on the issue.

‘The US is not in those negotiations and not seeking to be in those negotiations,’ the official said. 

‘We are instead a strong and vigorous supporter of practical, creative, flexible, results-oriented negotiations that, at the end of the day, produce a result that protects all of the gains that the people of Northern Ireland have made.

‘It will not be confrontational or adversarial or… he didn’t come here to give a lecture. He came merely to communicate what he believes very, very deeply about peace in Northern Ireland.’

It was alleged yesterday that Mr Biden had ordered officials to issue a rare diplomatic rebuke to the UK only last week over its continued opposition to the full implementation of the Protocol. 

It was reported that Yael Lempert, America’s most senior diplomat in Britain, had told Lord Frost, the Brexit minister, that the Government was ‘inflaming’ tensions with its opposition to checks at Northern Irish ports.

Minutes of the meeting on June 3 were said to have revealed that Lord Frost was told of Mr Biden’s ‘great concern’ over his stance.

It was said to have resulted in a ‘demarche’ – a formal diplomatic communication or protest.

The disclosure of Mr Biden’s apparent protest sparked anger in some quarters yesterday, with new DUP leader Edwin Poots saying that the President’s alleged intervention was ‘not well informed’.

He accused America of potentially ‘ignoring’ problems with the Protocol. Mr Poots warned BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: ‘America may be prepared to drive a coach and horses through the Good Friday Agreement.’

A Whitehall source played down the significance of the demarche, saying it was ‘not uncommon’ for allies to voice their disagreements in diplomatic notes.

There was irritation at the leaking of the note, with some suspecting it was done by anti-Brexit officials to damage the Government.

Brexiteer MP Peter Bone said: ‘If he is just urging a resolution of the dispute, that’s fine – we want a resolution. But he should not be taking the EU’s side.’

Pro-Remain Tory MP Tom Tugendhat said: ‘I’m surprised that the President decided to enter this debate so publicly at a very sensitive time for all parties.’

But Irish premier Micheal Martin said Mr Biden’s rebuke was a call to do the ‘sensible thing’ and resolve trade issues with the EU.