The NI protocol came significantly after the EU decided to turn the NI border into an issue in the Brexit negotiations (iirc, the EU's position paper was publis

The NI protocol came significantly after the EU decided to turn the NI border into an issue in the Brexit negotiations (iirc, the EU's position paper was published in 2017). The reason why the UK had to look at unilateral action was: because the EU wouldn't negotiate (the original position paper was made with the premise that the UK would actually go back on Brexit and that the issue could be used to force another vote), because NI hadn't had a govt for years as a result, and because terrorist attacks were increasing. This isn't a negotiating tactic, the EU attempted to break up the UK in order to "win" at Brexit. You may call that a "bizarre interpretation" but the Windsor framework accepted this because all the EU's previous reservations were dropped entirely (i.e. they were negotiating tactics). The mistake that previous UK govts made was to accept the EU turning the UK's territorial integrity into an issue over, essentially, a trade deal.