Former British prime minister Boris Johnson has said he will vote against current premier Rishi Sunak's Brexit deal in a key vote later Wednesday.
Johnson, who had already voiced concerns about the deal brokered with Brussels, confirmed that he will not be backing the deal when MPs vote on the Stormont brake in the Commons later.
In a statement, Mr Johnson said: "The proposed arrangements would mean either that Northern Ireland remained captured by the EU legal order – and was increasingly divergent from the rest of the UK – or they would mean that the whole of the UK was unable properly to diverge and take advantage of Brexit.
"That is not acceptable. I will be voting against the proposed arrangements today.
"Instead, the best course of action is to proceed with the Northern Ireland Protocol Bill, and make sure that we take back control."
