N Ireland party leader pans Pelosi's warning on Brexit terms

20/5/2022 19:04

        U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is facing criticism from the leader of Northern Ireland's biggest unionist party after saying Congress won't approve a trade deal with the U.K. if Britain scraps the agreement governing post-Brexit trade on the Irish island.
        
        The trans-Atlantic sparring follows British Prime Minister Boris Johnson's government announcing its intention to introduce legislation that would allow it to unilaterally suspend the so-called Northern Ireland Protocol, an international agreement between Britain and the European Union.
        
        Northen Ireland is the only part of the U.K. that shares a land border with an EU member country - the Republic of Ireland - and required special attention when the U.K. withdrew from the EU.
        
        The protocol is designed to preserve the Northern Ireland peace process, but unionists complain it has created a trade barrier between the province and the rest of the U.K.