Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab says it is “offensive” that France’s president characterised Northern Ireland “as somehow a separate country” to the UK.
His remarks came after Emmanuel Macron reportedly said Northern Ireland was not part of the UK during a G7 summit meeting.
It was in response to Boris Johnson asking how he would feel if sausages from Toulouse could not move to Paris.
An Elysee source said Mr Macron was talking about “geographical territory”.
They told the BBC: “President Macron said that Toulouse and Paris were on the same geographical territory, Northern Ireland is on an island.
But Mr Raab said the sentiment about Northern Ireland being separate from the rest of the UK had been expressed by the EU for “years”.
The row comes amid ongoing problems with the post-Brexit Northern Ireland Protocol.
The policy was designed to ensure a border would not be introduced on the island of Ireland to protect the Good Friday Agreement – and sees Northern Ireland continue to follow many of the EU rules on trade.
But as a result, it created a regulatory border in the Irish Sea, leading to additional checks on items moved between Great Britain and Northern Ireland.
Credit: bbc.com
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