Britain’s plan to tear up Brexit deal ‘politically driven’, says top EU official

EU did not used to expect UK to break international law, says Commission vice-president

Boris Johnson’s plans to unilaterally scrap parts of the Brexit deal are “politically driven” and “very damaging” to Britain’s relationship with the European Union, the European Commission vice-president has warned.

Maros Sefcovic said the EU was not “here for political point scoring” after Brussels launched fresh legal action against the UK in retaliation to the government’s proposed Northern Ireland Protocol Bill, which will effectively rip up key parts of the deal signed by Mr Johnson and the EU in 2019.

Mr Sefcovic told Sky News: “I cannot resist the impression that the tabling of the bill is politically driven, but it’s not our role to comment on internal politics in the UK and therefore our doors for the negotiations will always be open.