Gerard Howlin: Mairead McGuinness' nomination may stop Boris Johnson in his tracks

The stakes increased when the UK government’s chief legal adviser Johnathan Jones resigned, apparently in protest over what he is being asked to do on the NI protocol.

Mairead McGuinness. An Irish commissioner with her hands around the windpipe of the City of London could have a chilling effect on British ardour. Picture: RollingNews.ie

Yesterday’s nomination of Mairead McGuinness as future commissioner for financial services may add to the reasons Boris Johnson will hesitate before publishing today draft legislation threatening to drive a coach and horses through the Northern Ireland protocol. The fine detail will be critical. An Irish commissioner with her hands around the windpipe of the City of London could have a chilling effect on British ardour, which is running high.

A scoop in the Financial Times on Sunday relying on “three people familiar with the plans” said that “sections of the internal market bill are expected to 'eliminate the legal force of parts of the withdrawal agreement' in areas including state aid and Northern Ireland customs.” That put the cat among the pigeons. The UK government, whatever plans it had importunely exposed by an inconvenient leak, has been rubbing soothing ointments into the inevitable outrage since. It hasn’t, however, denied the plan, merely sweetly saying things about tidying up loose ends, if loose ends aren’t tied up.