Explainer: UK Says It May Break The Law On Brexit: How So?

The Withdrawal Agreement – the divorce treaty – was enshrined in British law.

Now, the British government says it wants the flexibility to be able to fulfil commitments it made in its manifesto by creating a safety net if the two sides fail to agree on the detail on the Northern Ireland protocol to avoid any potential legal difficulties.

The government wants to make clear that goods from Northern Ireland continue to have unfettered access to the British market and that EU state aid rules – which will continue to apply to Northern Ireland – will not apply in the rest of Britain.

To do that, they are planning to pass domestic legislation to hand ministers more powers rather than complying with the EU principle of direct effect.