BORIS Johnson has again attacked the EU over the implementation of the Northern Ireland Protocol as “grossly disproportionate and unnecessary”.
The Prime Minister hit out at the European Union whilst giving evidence to the Commons Liaison Committee earlier today.
Johnson insisted that the NI Protocol did not pose any threat to Northern Ireland’s status within the United Kingdom, amid concerns from Unionists that their place in the UK has been weakened.
The NI Protocol was part of the Brexit deal, and to prevent goods checks along the Irish land border - a trade border was created in the Irish Sea instead.
READ MORE: EU warns Boris Johnson over Northern Ireland border checks
This meant that Northern Ireland would be kept in the EU single market for goods, with EU custom rules enforced at its ports.
The 2019 deal agreed that the checks would be brought in on a phased basis through “grace periods”, but the most recent on July 1 had to be extended, after an agreement, due to problems over the movement of chilled meats.
The PM said that those problems are “far from fixed” and that there are now concerns among Northern Ireland’s Jewish community that they would be unable to access kosher foods unless it was resolved.
Johnson told the Committee: “They are talking now about an exodus from Northern Ireland. We want to do everything that we can to avoid that.
“I think what we all need to do is work rapidly on some solutions, fix this thing fast.
“I think it will take some effort but we really can’t exclude any actions that the UK government may need to take to protect what it says in the Protocol.”
The Prime Minister also sought to allay concerns among some unionist communities that Northern Ireland’s place in the UK had been weakened as a result of the Protocol.
He said: “There is absolutely no threat to Northern Ireland’s place within the United Kingdom and there should not be from the Protocol.
READ MORE: EU-UK Brexit Northern Ireland talks had 'no breakthroughs'
“It is clear that Northern Ireland is part of the sovereign territory of the United Kingdom. That is all clear from the Protocol.”
Johnson however indicated that he regretted some parts of the agreement which he had signed to get the UK out of the EU.
He said he had agreed to checks on goods moving from Great Britain out of “neighbourliness” as part of the arrangements to ensure there was no return of a hard border with the Republic.
He added: “We also agreed, unfortunately, that the EU could have a say in how this was done.”
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