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Plans to roll back the Northern Ireland Protocol could be threatened by Tory rebels, ministers are claiming, amid a fresh row over whether the plan will breach international law.
Boris Johnson is meeting ministers tonight to thrash out key parts of the legislation due to be published next week giving the government powers to scrap sections of the Brexit deal involving Northern Ireland.
This is expected to trigger a massive fight with the European Union.
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This comes as Sky News is told that the First Treasury Counsel, the government’s independent barrister on nationally important legal issues, has not been consulted on the question of whether the plans to overhaul the Northern Ireland Protocol will break international law.
Sir James Eadie was not asked to give his opinion on this key point of the plans.
He is nevertheless understood to have indicated he believes it will be very hard for the UK to argue it is not breaching international law if it goes ahead with some of the moves under consideration.
Sky News has been told it is extremely rare to not consult the First Treasury Counsel on such matters.
The PM and ministers are due to decide tonight whether to pass legislation which could effectively end the existing role of the European Court of Justice in Northern Ireland.
Sky News has been told the preferred option is that UK courts should have supremacy in matters in Northern Ireland which are currently the jurisdiction of the European Court of Justice (ECJ).
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The ECJ would be able to advise the UK courts on matters of European law.
However, tonight one government source told Sky News that there are now fears there could be a significant Tory rebellion against the legislation to change the protocol amongst the 148 who voted no confidence in Mr Johnson.
They said that rebels might suddenly become “purists” and object, causing problems for the passage of legislation.
“This is a worry,” said one source.
However, Tory rebels against the PM insist that presenting them as opponents of Brexit is wrong and the government attempts to present the rebellion as a threat to Brexit is a deliberate mischaracterisation to undermine their efforts in the party.
Ministers already believe they might have to use the Parliament Act to get the legislation through if the Lords throws out the bill.
This approach would be likely to be regarded as a significant rupture with the EU over the deal which Mr Johnson negotiated in 2019 and could ultimately result in the EU reimposing tariffs.
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