David Lammy: Johnson's plan for Northern Ireland is illegal and designed to save just himself

When real diplomacy is needed, instead Britain has a PM picking unnecessary fights with the EU to appease his own party, writes David Lammy

Protesters from Border Communities Against Brexit outside Hillsborough Castle during a visit by Boris Johnson for talks with the Stormont parties in May. If the government was serious about improving the lives of people across Northern Ireland and the whole UK, it would recognise the historical fact that progress is achieved through serious negotiations, statecraft and graft. Picture: Liam McBurney/PA

At 6am on 10 April, 1998, at Stormont’s Castle Buildings, after round upon round of multiparty negotiations, the Good Friday Agreement was signed. In 30 minutes, the violent conflict that had lasted 30 years was finally, for the most part, over.

It was one of the most significant moments of modern British history and one of the last Labour government’s greatest achievements. Twenty-four years later, the relative peace and stability this act of international diplomacy secured must not be taken for granted.