Ireland says threat of UK breaking Brexit treaty a 'negotiating tactic'

British government plans to press ahead on Monday with legislation that would break an earlier Brexit deal is a "negotiating tactic" and EU negotiators should not be distracted by it, Irish Foreign Minister Simon Coveney said on Sunday. Britain's upper house of parliament last month voted to remove clauses in the Internal Market Bill, which broke international law, but the government intends to reinstate them in the lower chamber on Monday.

"The problem linked to those pieces of legislation may find a way of disappearing if we can get the negotiation agreed on the substance," Coveney told RTE radio.