But senior politicians in the USA have threatened to block any free trade deal between America and the United Kingdom if Mr Johnson goes back on his Brexit agreement with the EU.

Addressing the House of Commons, Johnson claimed the European Union was using arrangements in the Brexit deal meant to protect peace in Northern Ireland as "leverage" in ongoing trade talks.

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson's government sees a "way through" the parliamentary maze for his bill that would break the Brexit divorce treaty as it talks with rebels in the Conservative Party, a minister said on Wednesday.

"If the Prime Minister wants to tell us that there's another part of this bill that I haven't noticed that will deal with this supposed threat of a blockade, I'll give way to him".

Johnson acknowledged on Monday that "some people will feel unease over the use of these powers - and I share that sentiment myself".

"We cannot have a situation where the boundaries of our country could be dictated by a foreign power or global organisation".

The row threatens to derail talks on an EU-UK trade deal that had already hit an impasse over the UK's future state aid regime and fisheries.

The EU has rejected Johnson's version of events and threatened to take legal action against the British government if it did not drop the proposed bill by the end of September.

"That illusion must be decently despatched".

Johnson temporarily halted the deadlock by sealing a divorce deal with Brussels late a year ago, which he used to win a thumping 80-seat victory in a December general election.

The UK and the European Union remain in negotiations about a future trade deal with both sides saying that such a deal must be agreed on by October in order to be passed into law before December 31 when European Union trade regulations with the UK will end.

Four US congressmen, led by chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee Eliot Engel, have written to Mr Johnson urging the Government to respect its open border and peace process with Northern Ireland.

A number of MPs across the political spectrum have sounded alarms about the bill, including Conservative lawmakers, most taking aim at its disregard for worldwide law.

Ed Milliband, shadow business secretary for the opposition Labour Party, accused Johnson of "trashing the reputation of this country and trashing the reputation of his office".

A senior Government source said they were "engaging" with MPs, but insisted that the official position on the Bill remained unchanged.

Geoffrey Cox, who was Johnson's attorney general during the unlawful suspension of parliament previous year, said any breach would be "unconscionable".

He said he could never have imagined former prime minister David Cameron announcing that the government would legislate to break global law. "Either he wasn't straight with the country about the deal in the first place or he didn't understand it".

Mr Rehman Chishti, Mr Johnson's special envoy for freedom of religion or belief, has quit, saying he could not vote for the plan.

MPs will now begin detailed scrutiny of the bill on Tuesday with Conservative MPs seeking further assurances that the United Kingdom will not betray its treaty obligations.