LONDON (UK) – The head of the British government’s legal department has stepped down over suggestions that Prime Minister Boris Johnson is posing a threat to them by rejecting the Brexit divorce deal with the European Union, the Financial Times said on Tuesday.
The newspaper said Jonathan Jones was quitting because of a conflict with Johnson’s office with regard to its reported plans to undermine the Withdrawal Agreement treaty signed in January in connection to the Northern Ireland protocol.
The FT said on Monday that Britain was considering working on the deal’s special provisions for Northern Ireland. With it, their aim is to avoid drawing a hard border with the Irish Republic and trade would be allowed to flow while at the same time protecting the bloc’s internal market.
Britain said that it was committed to the treaty, however, it needed minor clarifications and a backup plan to support the 1998 Northern Ireland peace deal.
According to the FT, unnamed sources close to Jones, the Treasury lawyer and head of the Government Legal Department, said he was “very unhappy” with the decision to revoke parts of the protocol of Northern Ireland.
Johnson’s office or the Cabinet Office did not immediately respond.