One of Boris Johnson’s most senior law officers has handed in his resignation after he suggested a cabinet minister had misspoken when he claimed the
UK was ready to break international law over Brexit.
Lord Keen of Elie QC, the Advocate General for
Scotland and a justice minister, faced humiliation as Northern
Ireland secretary Brandon Lewis told MPs on Wednesday his colleague had been flat wrong to dispute the government’s stance.
Labour said that Lord Keen’s authority was now “shot” to pieces following Lewis’s remarks, amid intense speculation that he would soon leave his post.
BBC Scotland reported that although Keen’s resignation had been offered, it had not yet been accepted by No.10. Downing Street refused to comment.
Keen was last week said to be on the edge of resigning over the government’s admission that its new Internal Market Bill “breaks international law in a specific and limited way”.
Meanwhile, the UK faced fresh anger from the EU after Lewis refused to guarantee that the UK would abide by the outcome of any disputes process agreed with Brussels.
European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen jibed the PM, quoting Margaret Thatcher’s belief that “Britain does not break treaties”, as the
Brexit row reignited once more.
Keen had sparked ridicule on Tuesday when he told peers that he felt that Lewis had “answered the wrong question” when making his now infamous comment about
BREAKING international law.But government sources told HuffPost that Keen was not speaking for the government.
And in evidence to the
Northern Ireland select committee, Lewis rammed home his message that his words were official policy in line with legal advice of the Attorney General Suella Braverman.
“I’ve spoken to Lord Keen. When he’s looked at the specific question I was asked last week, he has agreed with me that the answer I gave was correct. That answer I gave reflects the government legal advice,” he said.
Lewis had been replying to a question from Tory grandee Sir Bob Neill, who has since threatened a rebel amendment to the legislation that would give MPs the final say on any breach of the EU-UK Withdrawal Agreement on Brexit.
Shadow attorney general Lord Falconer said that Lord Keen’s authority was now “shot”.Brandon Lewis admitted passage of Bill is breach of international law. Lord Keen, Advocate General, expressed detailed legal views in Lords. The views of one of law officers repudiated by govt. Law Officers’ authority now totally shot. https://t.co/Z08OlY3YOk— Charlie Falconer (@LordCFalconer) September 16, 2020Falconer also said Keen’s position was now “absolutely untenable” because he had misled the Lords on a key plank of the government’s legal position.
Lewis told MPs: “I read out something very specific because I wanted to ensure that what I said, to make sure that I was giving the House a straight answer.”
The cabinet minister also insisted that the government intends to deploy its “break the law” provisions in parallel with using EU arbitration mechanisms, rather than exhausting the
Brussels route first.
“Even if we end up in a situation where we need to use the ‘safety net’ we do that at same time [as going down the EU route],” he said.
Lib Dem MP Alistair Carmichael seized on the chaos as he urged Johnson in prime minister’s questions to publish the full legal advice from all his law officers.
“Last week the
Secretary of State for Northern Ireland said that the Internal Market Bill would breach our obligations under international law. Yesterday, the Advocate General for Scotland said the Secretary of State was wrong to say that,” Carmichael said.
“Today, the Secretary of State says that the Advocate General wrong to say he was wrong. It’s of course possible that they are both right in saying that the other is wrong. But surely on an important matters such as this requires clarity.”
Johnson refused the request to publish the full advice.
But Lewis sparked a fresh backlash from the EU when he refused to say whether he would abide by the outcome of the arbitration process agreed with Brussels for any disputes over the Brexit divorce treaty.
Asked directly if the UK would abide by the outcome of such arbitration, Lewis replied: “To get into a hypothetical about what would happen is an unhelpful and dangerous place to be.”
Committee chair Simon Hoare replied that “there are many people in prison” who don’t like “the ruling of the judge” but they accept it nevertheless.
Irish politician Neale Richmond was swift to condemn Lewis’s latest remarks.It is not hypothetical in anyway. UK Govt must guarantee their responsibilities and meet their obligations. A very revealing #brexit hearing in front of the @CommonsNIAC this morning. https://t.co/JLPN5LqiJL— Neale Richmond (@nealerichmond) September 16, 2020Earlier, in her annual
State of the Union address to the European Parliament, Von der Leyen said both sides had agreed the Withdrawal Agreeent was the only way to guarantee the Northern Ireland peace process.
She quoted Mrs Thatcher, as saying: “Britain does not break treaties. It would be bad for
Britain, bad for relations with the rest of the world and bad for any future treaty on trade.”
The EU chief added: “This was true then and this is true today. Trust is the foundation of any strong partnership.”