Irish PM warns Boris Johnson over Brexit divorce deal

Bloomberg

Irish PM Micheal Martin warned Boris Johnson against tampering with the Brexit divorce agreement he signed last year, saying doing so would torpedo any trade deal between Britain and the European Union.
“The Withdrawal Agreement is an international treaty, and we expect the UK government to implement and to adhere to what was agreed,” Martin said in an interview with the Irish Examiner published. “We trust them to do so or they would render the talks process null and void.”
The UK is drawing up new legislation that would dilute the effect of the Withdrawal Agreement on subjects ranging from state aid to customs in Northern Ireland — a decision that risks reopening one of the most controversial disputes in Brexit. Both Ireland and the EU are opposed to any move that could lead to the reintroduction of checks at the border between Northern Ireland and the Republic. UK officials say their aim is to prevent any legal confusion.
The row threatens to overshadow trade talks between UK and EU that resume in London. The discussions have been at an impasse for months over two key issues: state aid — where Britain wants to depart from EU rules to allow it to subsidise particular industries — and fisheries, where the bloc is seeking unchanged access to British waters after Brexit, something the UK is resisting.
The UK is due to leave the EU single market and customs union when the Brexit transition agreement expires at the end of December.
Without a new trade deal in place, the two sides will face costly new quotas and tariffs on goods trade, and chaotic scenes at the border if customs checks are imposed.
David Frost, the UK’s chief Brexit negotiator, warned progress must be made this week if an agreement is to
be reached in time for the year-end.
“We have now been talking for six months and can no longer afford to go over well-trodden ground,” Frost said in an emailed statement before negotiations with his EU counterpart, Michel Barnier, in London.