Trump aide warns UK against creating 'hard border by accident'
The British prime minister, Boris Johnson, has been urged to avoid creating a "[hard] border by accident" by US president Donald Trump's special envoy to Northern Ireland Mick Mulvaney.
The interjection comes 24 hours after a call from Democratic candidate for the Presidency Joe Biden that there would be no UK-US trade deal should the Northern Ireland peace process "become a casualty of Brexit."
The UK Government is preparing to introduce legislation that would override parts of the EU withdrawal treaty pertaining to the Northern Ireland protocol, a move it has admitted would break international law.
The Trump administration, State department and US congress would all be aligned in the desire to see the Good Friday Agreement preserved to see the lack of a border maintained."
And Mulvaney joined the condemnation of Johnson's plan, according to reports in the FT, noting that "the Trump administration, State department and US congress would all be aligned in the desire to see the Good Friday Agreement preserved to see the lack of a border maintained."
Mulvaney added: "Everyone assures me that on-one is interested in seeing a hard border between the republic and Northern Ireland. We appreciate that, we respect that and we agree with that. The one thing I keep trying to assure is on the front of everybody's mind is avoiding a border by accident."
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