Brussels in bid to stop British bangers and burgers being sold to Northern Ireland after Brexit
BRUSSELS is threatening to block British bangers made on the mainland from being sold in Northern Ireland.
Eurocrats are insisting imports of chilled meat products from the UK will be banned after Brexit because of EU red tape.
The devastating diktat, also covering burgers and mince, would include Northern Ireland under the terms of last year's divorce deal.
Boris Johnson is vowing to retaliate by stopping the same Irish goods from entering our market, which would hammer the country's farmers.
Dublin is now pleading with the EU Commission to show some common sense before it's too late.
Agriculture minister Charlie McConalogue insisted the row is "not brinkmanship" and called the threat of a ban "concerning".
He said: "It's really important there's very strong engagement to look at the means by which this issue can be resolved."
Under EU food safety rules chilled meat products can't be imported from outside the bloc, although frozen goods are allowed.
A trade deal won't solve the problem, meaning the only fix is for the Commission to waive the regulations citing exceptional circumstances.
Former Brexit minister David Jones said a meat blockade would be unacceptable to Britain and "cast the Irish to the wolves".
He told The Sun: "This is going to cause as much consternation in Dublin as in London. This will be devastating to Ireland.
"We can't have a state of affairs where UK supermarkets can't supply their own branches in Northern Ireland with their own processed meat.
"That's not something we can countenance. The EU has got to understand the relationship between the UK and Ireland is different.
"If they've got any respect for the people of Ireland, both north and south, they should find a means of resolving this problem."
The row is separate to an EU threat to block all food exports from Great Britain to Northern Ireland, which The Sun exposed in September.
