The British Foreign Secretary warned that her country could activate Article 16 of the Protocol on Northern Ireland

 

 The Minister of Foreign Affairs of Great Britain Liz Truss warned that her country is ready to unilaterally cancel parts of the agreement on Northern Ireland after Brexit, if the negotiations that are currently underway fail, writes the British newspaper London Evening Standard.

Trass said he would offer "constructive proposals" to his EU counterpart, Maros Shefcovic, this week during their first face-to-face talks.

But at the same time, she warned that she was "ready" to trigger Article 16 of the Northern Ireland Protocol, which will suspend parts of the treaty designed to prevent a hard border with Ireland if no agreement is reached with the EU.

 The foreign minister was given responsibility for negotiations with the EU after Lord David Frost resigned as Brexit minister last month.

She said her "absolute priority" was to resolve the "unintended consequences" created by the Protocol in order to preserve peace in Northern Ireland.

"When I met with Maroš Šefčovič this week for our first face-to-face talks, I will present our constructive proposals for resolving the situation.

 The current problems are "innumerable and obvious", she argued, citing problems such as bureaucracy in sending parcels between Northern Ireland and Britain and problems in obtaining special beehives for the Jewish community.

"I am ready to work day and night to negotiate a solution," Truss said.

"But let me be clear, I will not accept anything that suggests that the people of Northern Ireland cannot benefit from the same tax and expenditure decisions as the rest of the UK, or that still leads to goods that move in our own country, be subject to inspections.

 "My priority is to defend peace and stability in Northern Ireland. I want a negotiated solution, but if we have to use legitimate provisions, including Article 16, I am ready to do so.

Last week, Shefchovic warned that the "basis of the whole deal" between the UK and the EU would be in jeopardy if Britain took the drastic step.

"This is a very distracting element in the discussions. "You are trying to achieve something together and - bam - the threat of Article 16 is coming again," he told the German newspaper Der Spiegel.

"It simply came to our notice then.

 "The Protocol on Northern Ireland was the most difficult part of the Brexit negotiations and it is the basis of the whole deal. Without the protocol, the whole system will collapse. We must prevent this at all costs. "