Legislation being put before the House of Commons tomorrow could do away with the so-called “border down the Irish Sea” hated by Brexiteers, claims Jim Allister MP – with Reform UK’s Nigel Farage one of its sponsors.
To avoid a hard border between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland, the UK and European Union agreed that Northern Ireland would remain aligned with certain EU rules on goods, customs, and standards.
In accordance with the Northern Ireland Protocol, goods entering Northern Ireland from Great Britain (England, Scotland, and Wales) are subject to customs checks and regulatory inspections to ensure compliance with EU standards.
Critics claim the Protocol undermines UK sovereignty by treating Northern Ireland differently from the rest of the UK, effectively leaving it partially within the EU’s regulatory and legal sphere, despite last year’s Windsor Framework agreement aimed at reforming and improving the system.
The European Union (Withdrawal Arrangements) Bill is being debated after Mr Allister, Traditional Unionist Voice MP for North Antrim, was chosen high on the ballot for Private Member’s Bills.
He said: “Today the 1.9m people who live in Northern Ireland are covered by 300 areas of law that are the remit of the European Union.
“This means that for the first time, people of this country have had their democratic rights removed as they have no influence on law that applies to them.”
What he called the “absurdity” of parts of UK having different democratic rights compared to others “needs to be addressed” and his Bill did precisely that, Mr Allister continued.
He explained: “By creating a system of mutual enforcement, no physical customs barriers are required at all.
“Better still by bringing in this law we will set the stage for possible trade deals with the US, which under the current situation will be almost impossible, given the subjection of part of the UK to EU law and control.”
The United States, soon to be led by President-elect Donald Trump, would want certainty in any trade deal with the UK something which would require “the closing of the back door into the EU which the present Windsor Framework creates”, Mr Allister continued.
He said: “Many in Westminster, and the country do not realise that what happens in Northern Ireland matters to everyone, all 70 million of us.
“It really does and I believe that my Bill is an effective way of solving a host of problems left behind by the initial Brexit negotiations.”
The Bill is co-sponsored by MPs from six different parties and an independent unionist, including Mr Farage himself, former Tory leader Sir Iain Duncan Smith, Graham Stringer, Richard Tice, Gavin Robinson, Sammy Wilson, Carla Lockhart, Robin Swann, Alex Easton, Jim Shannon and Gregory Campbell.
