Reuters reports, citing a copy of the UK internal market bill
- Ministers may make provision about the application of exit procedures to goods, or a description of goods, when moving from Northern Ireland to Great Britain
- Ministers can take into account the need for Northern Ireland goods to enjoy unfettered access to the rest of the UK when exercising this power
- Certain provisions have effect notwithstanding inconsistency or incompatibility with international or other domestic law
Essentially, it is as what has been reported before but just that this is confirmation that under the bill, UK ministers have extra powers to ensure the application of customs and trade rules in Northern Ireland - which is supposed to be part of the EU single market.
Rest assured, the EU will certainly not be happy now that this is the official stance as it goes against the terms set out by the Brexit withdrawal agreement.
The pound is lingering at session lows around 1.2914 against the dollar now, but the response by the EU is going to be everything moving forward.
If they cause a ruckus and add to the drama, the pound could feel more pressure considering that there is little standing in the way of cable heading towards a test of its 50.0 retracement level @ 1.2867 from here.