Rishi Sunak has been urged by Boris Johnson not to drop legislation he introduced on how long-term trade in Northern Ireland will function following Brexit.
However, Mr. Sunak has been meeting with EU leaders to agree on a new deal. The Northern Ireland Protocol Bill was initiated when Mr. Johnson was the PM.
As of 2021, specific trade checks apply to some goods traveling across the Irish Sea.
According to a source close to Mr. Johnson, the former prime minister believed it would be a "great mistake" to depart from his plan.
If it passes through Parliament, it would give the Westminster government the authority to decide on its own to change the current policies for Northern Ireland.
Many Conservative backbenchers view the progression toward that final position as a crucial negotiating chip whenever the UK tries to extract concessions from the EU.
The protocol bill is currently on hold in parliament as the UK and EU attempt to negotiate a new agreement that would address a number of lingering issues, including trade across the Irish Sea and the jurisdiction of the European Court of Justice in Northern Ireland.
The latest round of negotiations ended on Saturday, and Mr. Sunak cautioned that there were still "challenges to work through" before an agreement could be reached.
The Sunday Telegraph, one of Mr. Johnson's former employers, first published the remarks from the source close to the former PM.
However, the source claimed that Mr. Johnson did not agree with Mr. Sunak's proposals for a new agreement until he had seen the text, which the government hopes to make public early next week.
Insiders in the government believe that the House of Commons will soon hold a debate and vote on a deal, with Tuesday being the most likely date. However, the plans are said to still be "fluid.".
Mr. Sunak is working hard to ease tensions between Westminster and Brussels caused by Mr. Johnson's proposed legislation, which would have allowed the UK to unilaterally abandon some of the current agreements that had been negotiated and approved by the EU.
The bill would not need to proceed further in Parliament, according to a senior government official, if problems with the current protocol arrangements could be resolved.
The cabinet source also told BBC News that "there are hard yards ahead" when describing the ongoing negotiations for a new agreement. We're working a lot. However, it is far from finished. The most challenging problems are always the ones you encounter near the conclusion. ".
Mr. Sunak wants the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) in Belfast and Tory MPs in Westminster to support him in his efforts to reach a compromise that is acceptable to the EU.
One of the main criticisms of the Northern Ireland protocol from unionists and Euroskeptics alike is the Irish Sea trade barriers, which both would welcome a deal that lowers.
The Protocol controversy has created a political void in Stormont in recent months, with the DUP obstructing the operation of the devolved government in Northern Ireland in opposition to the trade regulations.
The future of the political institutions at Stormont, the Northern Irish parliament, will depend on securing the party's support for any deal.
Iain Duncan Smith, a former leader of the Conservative Party, asserted in a piece published in the Sunday Telegraph that any agreement that kept Northern Ireland subject to EU laws and regulations would prevent the DUP from resuming its power-sharing role at Stormont and pose a threat to the Good Friday Agreement. .
Following more than a year of work by UK and EU negotiators trying to reach a deal on changes to the contentious trade arrangement, the prime minister held discussions with European Commission President Ursula von de Leyen on Saturday in Munich in an effort to secure the necessary agreement to resolve the tensions.
Downing Street claimed that the discussion had been "constructive" and that "very good progress toward finding solutions" had been made.
As part of the withdrawal agreement, Mr. Johnson initially approved the protocol in 2019.
At the time, he called the deal "a great deal for our country," noting that it would allow "the UK to leave the EU as one United Kingdom.".
The agreement did, however, result in the creation of a new trade border between Northern Ireland and the rest of the UK.
Mr. Johnson reaffirmed his promise to eliminate checks throughout the general election campaign in 2019.
However, by the time he was presenting the Protocol Bill, he had to admit that it had upset the "delicate balance" of Northern Ireland's political settlement.
It is the trade agreement that was reached to guarantee free goods movement across the Irish land border following Brexit.
It went into effect in 2021 and has since led to inspections of goods being transported from the United Kingdom to Northern Ireland.
Unionist parties contend that establishing a functional trade border across the Irish Sea threatens to undermine Northern Ireland's status within the UK.
The largest of those groups, the DUP, is stalling on joining the power-sharing coalition in Northern Ireland until its issues are addressed.
However, the protocol should continue in some capacity, according to the majority of Stormont assembly members.
Improvements to the protocol are required, according to Sinn Féin, the Alliance Party, and the SDLP.
