Analysis Boris Johnson is picking a Brexit fight at a very risky moment

Boris Johnson is picking a Brexit fight at a very risky moment
Luke McGee
Analysis by Luke McGee, CNN
Updated 0824 GMT (1624 HKT) May 14, 2022
As it happened: The day the UK left the EU 01:49
London (CNN)Boris Johnson has a lot on his plate right now. The "Partygate" scandal has battered the British Prime Minister's personal ratings, a cost of living crisis is hurting millions of his citizens, and he's assuming a leading role in helping Ukraine fight off Russia's invasion.

To the outside observer, then, it might seem odd that Johnson now also appears to be picking a Brexit-related fight with his old foe, the European Union.
Yet the British government has spent much of this week talking up the prospect of overriding a key part of the Brexit deal that Johnson himself negotiated and signed with the bloc back in 2019.
The issue in question is the Northern Ireland Protocol, a safeguard that was put in place to ensure that the border between the Republic of Ireland (part of the EU) and Northern Ireland (part of the United Kingdom) remains open -- thereby mitigating the risk of sectarian violence returning to the island of Ireland.
The UK government argues that the protocol is not working for a variety of reasons, but most recently because the Unionists in Northern Ireland are not willing to form a power-sharing government with the Republican Sinn Fein party. Sinn Fein won the legislative elections in Northern Ireland for the first time in history last week. The main Unionist party, the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP), says however that until the protocol is fixed to their satisfaction, they will continue to hold out.
https://edition.cnn.com/2022/05/14/uk/boris-johnson-brexit-cost-of-living-int-cmd-gbr/index.html