BORIS JOHNSON’S bid to tear up parts of the Northern Ireland Protocol cleared its first Commons hurdle on Monday night, despite being branded “not legal” by his immediate predecessor Theresa May.

MPs voted 295 to 221, a majority of 74, to give the Northern Ireland Protocol Bill a second reading, clearing the way for it to undergo detailed scrutiny in the coming weeks.

While opposition parties voted against the government, dozens of Tories chose to abstain, joining former prime minister Ms May, who made it clear that she would not support the legislation.

The government is aiming to fast-track the Bill through the Commons before Parliament begins it summer recess, although MPs are likely to seek substantial amendments.

The House of Lords is also expected to contest parts of the legislation, setting up a lengthy clash between the two chambers.

The government claims that the measures to remove checks on goods and animal and plant products travelling from Britain to Northern Ireland are necessary to safeguard the Good Friday Agreement and peace and stability in the six counties.

Tory Simon Hoare said: “If a Labour government were planning to break international law, as the Northern Ireland Protocol Bill does, they would all accuse them of not being fit for government. For a Tory to have to point this out to fellow Tories is shameful.”

In a withering attack on her own party’s front bench, Ms May said: “I have to say to the government this Bill is not, in my view, legal in international law, it will not achieve its aims, and it will diminish the standing of the United Kingdom in the eyes of the world, and I cannot support it.”

Labour shadow foreign secretary David Lammy, when asked by Tory John Redwood what his alternative to the Bill would be, retorted: “We negotiate. You do not break international law and alienate our partners.”

Unionist opposition to the imposition of checks has seen the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) refuse to return to the power-sharing executive at Stormont, leaving Northern Ireland without a working government.

DUP leader Sir Jeffrey Donaldson acknowledged that the Bill was not perfect, but he said: “It empowers ministers to make change where change is necessary to ensure the proper functioning of the UK internal market.”

Foreign Secretary Liz Truss attempted to allay MPs’ concerns by claiming that the Bill had a “strong legal justification” and that the government remains committed to seeking a negotiated solution.