The US government has warned British security officials that the ‘five eyes’ intelligence-sharing agreement may be at risk if the UK imperils the Good Friday Agreement by pulling out of the European Convention of Human Rights (ECHR). I understand that this point has been made recently, and fairly clearly, in talks between the UK and US sides.
Rishi Sunak has been holding open the prospect of withdrawing from the ECHR if it frustrates his plans to deport asylum seekers who enter the UK illegally. But this would blow a hole in the Good Friday Agreement (GFA), which says that citizens of Northern Ireland will receive human rights protections based on the convention. The Biden administration has been making clear that it is determined to defend the GFA’s provisions.
The warnings to London are the latest sign of US concern about Northern Ireland
Insiders familiar with these conversations say that the Biden administration would not shut the UK out of the intelligence it shares with Canada, Australia and New Zealand if the UK leaves the ECHR.
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