THE UK Justice Secretary has said he will only resign from the Cabinet if the Tory Government breaks the law "in a way that I find unacceptable".

In an astonishing admission, Robert Buckland suggested Boris Johnson’s current plans to disregard international legislation with the Internal Market Bill could constitute an acceptable form of law breaking.

However, the Tory minister insisted he does not believe the UK will "get to that stage", adding legislation that could break international law was a "break the glass in emergency provision if we need it".

His defence came as Irish foreign affairs minister Simon Coveney said the UK was damaging its international reputation.

He hit out at Johnson's "spin" in denying Europe could impose a "blockade" between Britain and Northern Ireland.

The Prime Minister is under increasing pressure to back down on plans to override elements of his own Withdrawal Agreement, with former leaders calling on Tory rebels to vote his Bill down.

The Justice Secretary has faced calls to explain how the plans are consistent with obligations under international law and was pressed on Sunday over whether he would resign.

"If I see the rule of law being broken in a way I find unacceptable then of course I will go," he told The Andrew Marr Show on the BBC.

"I don't believe we're going to get to that stage.

“I know in my mind what I have to do. But the Government collectively here also has a responsibility, we've got to resolve any conflict that's what we will do."

READ MORE: Boris Johnson planning to ditch key European human rights laws

Buckland’s Labour shadow, David Lammy, accused him of "putting career before country", adding: "Each time the Government breaks the law it's a travesty."

The Justice Secretary was forced to insist the Government is "committed to the rule of law" and said the position was in accordance with "honourable traditions of the British state".

But he said the controversial UK Internal Market Bill, which will be debated in Parliament tomorrow, is needed in order to "prepare for the worst".

He insisted the Prime Minister does genuinely want to broker a free trade deal with the EU, telling Sky's Sophy Ridge on Sunday: "He wanted a deal last year, I believed him, I was right in my belief, I know and believe he wants a deal this year."

Buckland also face tricky questions over reports the UK Government is planning to ditch European human rights laws.

According to the Sunday Telegraph, ministers are considering opt-outs from the Human Rights Act in areas where judges have supposedly “overreached”.

But the Justice Secretary denied the Tory administration was planning on leaving the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR)