The UK has legitimate concerns about the deal, but threatening to tear it up will destroy the trust that’s so vital
Taking responsibility should be the flipside of taking back control. But admissions of responsibility are in short supply in the government document published on the Northern Ireland protocol on Wednesday. According to this, the protocol was the responsibility of (delete according to taste) Theresa May, Hilary Benn or indeed the 2019 parliament. Anyone, in other words, except the people who negotiated it – the prime minister and his chief negotiator, David Frost.
The blame shifting should not, however, lead us to ignore the fact that the British government has legitimate concerns about the way the protocol has functioned.
