Scrapping the protocol would be a betrayal of the people of Northern Ireland | Nathalie Loiseau

Special trade arrangements are crucial to peace and prosperity in Northern Ireland. Yet Brexiteers in London refuse to see that

There has been feverish speculation, in both Westminster and Brussels, about the British government's possible intention to trigger article 16 of the Brexit withdrawal agreement.

Make no bones about it: such a move, especially if accompanied by the unilateral suspension of elements of the Northern Ireland protocol, would throw the UK's relations with the EU into turmoil, just at the moment when real progress is being made to facilitate its implementation.

Nathalie Loiseau is an MEP and a former French minister for European affairs