Ministers say plans to back the Northern Ireland Protocol could be threatened by conservative rebels amid a new dispute over whether the plan will violate international law.
Boris Johnson will meet with ministers tonight to clarify key parts of the legislation to be published next week that will empower the government to rule out sections of the Brexit deal involving Northern Ireland.
This is expected to trigger a massive struggle with the European Union.
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This comes when Sky News is told that the first Treasury adviser, the government’s independent lawyer on matters of national legal importance, has not been consulted on whether plans to revise the Northern Ireland Protocol they will violate international law.
Sir James Eadie was not asked to comment on this key point of the plans.
However, he is understood to have indicated that he believes it will be very difficult for the UK to argue that it is not in breach of international law if it goes ahead with some of the moves that are being made.
Sky News has been told it is extremely rare not to consult with the first Treasury adviser on these issues.
The Prime Minister and ministers are due to decide tonight whether to pass legislation that could effectively end the existing role of the EU Court of Justice in Northern Ireland.
Sky News has been told that the preferred option is for UK courts to have supremacy in Northern Ireland matters which are currently under the jurisdiction of the Court of Justice of the EU (CJEU).
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The ECJ could advise UK courts on matters of European law.
However, tonight a government source told Sky News that there is now a fear that there may be a major rebellion by conservatives against legislation to change protocol among the 148 who voted censorship on Johnson.
They said the rebels could suddenly become “purists” and oppose each other, causing problems for the legislation to pass.
“This is a concern,” a source said.
However, conservative rebels against the prime minister insist that presenting them as opponents of Brexit is wrong and that the government’s attempts to present the rebellion as a threat to Brexit is a deliberate misrepresentation of undermining its efforts in the Brexit. party.
Ministers already believe that perhaps they should use Parliament’s law to pass legislation if the Lords reject the bill.
This approach is likely to be considered a major break with the EU due to the agreement that Mr. Johnson negotiated in 2019 and could eventually cause the EU to re-impose tariffs.