May insists backstop does not breach Good Friday Agreement

Theresa May has insisted a border backstop would not breach the terms of Northern Ireland’s peace agreement.

Lord Trimble, the former Stormont first minister and key architect of the Good Friday (Belfast) Agreement, is planning a legal challenge against the current Brexit deal.

He insists the backstop proposal, which would see the region adhere to a different regulatory framework to the rest of the UK, undermines the 1998 accord’s central tenet – the principle of consent.

Theresa May was asked about the prospect of a legal challenge during a visit to Belfast on Tuesday.

“The Attorney General (Geoffrey Cox) made clear in the House of Commons that we believe that, legally, the protocol that was negotiated with the European Union does respect all aspects of the Belfast Agreement,” she said.

Under the consent principle, the constitutional status of Northern Ireland can only be altered with the consent of the people who live there.

Lord Trimble, who is preparing judicial review proceedings, has said the withdrawal deal would undermine that commitment.

The former Ulster Unionist leader and ex-SDLP leader John Hume were awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for their roles in forging the Good Friday deal.

Democratic Unionist leader Arlene Foster, whose party opposed the 1998 deal, has also raised concern about the backstop’s potential to undermine the principle of consent, claiming it would “drive a coach and horses” through it.