Editorial: Britain’s ire is because the Protocol shields the North from the Brexit shambles

In response to unionist wailing, Boris Johnson and David Frost are making vindictive demands that they know can’t be met

The protocol wraps a protective shield around Northern Ireland, enabling it to avoid the disruptions and costs of Brexit so evident in Britain, and Boris Johnson and David Frost don’t like that. Picture: Getty

There is a whiff of vindictiveness in the British government’s approach to the Northern Ireland protocol. Not content with the economic and political damage they have inflicted on Britain, through the Brexit deal they negotiated, signed and ratified, prime minister Boris Johnson and David Frost, his Brexit minister, are now moving to impose the same calamity on the North.

It is painfully obvious that Brexit isn’t working. In Britain, there are shortages of goods, labour ...