Parliamentary Schedule For Internal Market Bill Day

Events to watch out for on the day that the gov't presents its much discussed UK Internal Market Bill.

• 1200BST (0700ET, 1300CET): Boris Johnson faces Sir Keir Starmer in Prime Minister's Questions. Expect major focus on the gov't admission yesterday that its proposed unilateral changes to the Northern Ireland protocol would break international law. Second on the call sheet - therefore asking a question of the PM before opposition leader Starmer (Lab, Holborn and St Pancras) has his set of questions - is Sir Bob Neill (Con, Bromley and Chiselhurst). Neill is the chair of the Justice select committee, and it was to his question in the Commons yesterday that Secretary of State for Northern Ireland Brandon Lewis stated the gov't would break the law.
• Around 1230BST (0730ET, 1330CET): Secretary of State for Business, Energy, and Industrial Strategy Alok Sharma will present the United Kingdom Internal Markets Bill. There will be no debate during or after the presentation.
• The order paper lays out the controversial part of the bill, stating it is intended "[...] to make provision in connection with provisions of the Northern Ireland Protocol relating to trade and state aid".
• This is the area in which the UK would be violating international law, given that any changes to the Northern Ireland protocol would need to be agreed to by the UK and the EU in order to be acceptable. A unilateral change would violate the Brexit Withdrawal Agreement, and has already led to a major backlash from the EU and its member states.