Lord Trimble, the Nobel Peace Prize-winning architect of the Good Friday Agreement, has formally commenced legal proceedings against the Government to challenge whether the backstop is illegal under the Good Friday Agreement. Guido can reveal the formal letter sent to the Government Legal Department ahead of the Judicial Review challenge, which the Government must respond to by 22 February. The three possible defendants are identified as Karen Bradley, David Lidington or the Prime Minister herself…

The case will argue that the backstop breaches two key laws – the Northern Ireland Act 1998 and the Union of Ireland Act 1800 – as well as the Good Friday Agreement itself. Under the Northern Ireland Act and the GFA, they say arrangements to avoid a hard border should have been negotiated bilaterally at the British-Irish intergovernmental conference. The EU has already allowed the UK and Spain to sign a bilateral agreement regarding Gibraltar, why can Northern Ireland not be resolved bilaterally as well?

The crowdfund for the challenge to the backstop is nearing its initial target. If Guido readers want to support the legal challenge too they can donate here…