“Former prime ministers Tony Blair and John Major on Sunday said Britain must drop a ‘shocking’ plan to pass legislation that breaks its divorce treaty with the European Union, in a breach of international law. The British government said explicitly last week that it plans to break international law by breaching parts of the Withdrawal Agreement treaty that it signed in January, when it formally left the EU. ‘What is being proposed now is shocking,’ Major and Blair, who were adversaries in the 1990s as Conservative and Labour leaders, wrote in a joint letter published by the Sunday Times newspaper. ‘How can it be compatible with the codes of conduct that bind ministers, law officers and civil servants deliberately to break treaty obligations?’ Theresa May, current Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s predecessor, has also questioned whether international partners would be able to trust Britain in future. Johnson says the new legislation is needed to clarify the Northern Ireland protocol element of the Brexit deal, to protect free trade between the four constituent nations of the United Kingdom” – Reuters.