Boris Johnson to vote against Sunak's post-Brexit Northern Ireland plan

Britain's former leader Boris Johnson will oppose in a parliament vote on Wednesday, March 22, a key part of Prime Minister Rishi Sunak's post-Brexit deal with the EU to overhaul trade rules for Northern Ireland. Johnson, who also faces a much-anticipated grilling on Wednesday about the "partygate" controversy during the Covid pandemic, which could end his career as an MP, called the agreement struck with the European Union last month "not acceptable".

Opposition from Johnson, ousted as premier last summer following a revolt within his ruling party after a series of scandals, could lead other Conservative eurosceptics to oppose the compromise deal struck by Sunak and reawaken deep divisions within the party over Brexit.

"I will be voting against the proposed arrangements today," Johnson said in a statement. He argued that the new trade pact would result in Northern Ireland staying "captured by the EU legal order" and diverging from the rest of the UK, or the entire UK being "unable properly to diverge and take advantage of Brexit".

Johnson urged the government to stick with legislation he helped craft that would unilaterally disregard existing EU rules in Northern Ireland until Brussels agrees on acceptable alternatives. But that draft law, introduced last year, prompted the bloc to threaten reprisals and a damaging wider trade war, further souring strained relations.