It was widely expected in Brussels that Britain would up the ante ahead of this week’s round of talks with the European Union. What was not anticipated is that the London government would declare an intention to break international law. The six words of Britain’s Northern Ireland secretary Brandon Lewis to describe his government’s proposed Bill – “Yes, this does break international law” – caused consternation across Europe. Only last week, foreign secretary Dominic Raab deplored the poisoning of Russian opposition politician Alexei Navalny as “utterly deplorable and a violation of international law”. International law renegades do not typically declare that they are breaking the law.

Source: The Irish Times September 09, 2020 19:01 UTC