There was fresh uncertainty last night over the Tory government’s position on the NI Protocol Bill.
Jamie Bryson said: "This is the Irish government who put the protocol upon us, and yet Mr Baker is apologising to them"
Monday 3rd October, 2022.
The NI Office minister and noted Brexiteer Steve Baker apologised for his former “ferocious” stance on negotiations with the EU.
Speaking at the Tory conference, Mr Baker said ministers needed to act with “humility” to restore relationships with the Republic and the EU. But he also said: “The counterpoint of that is resolve. No one should underestimate our resolve, this government’s resolve, to get progress on the protocol.”
However, the loyalist Jamie Bryson said: “The comments by Steve Baker ‘apologising’ to the Irish government will raise alarm bells for all unionists and loyalists. The campaign of street protest was eased off on the basis of a belief that the government were going to rid us of the pernicious protocol.
Steve Baker, Minister of State at the NI Office, speaking at the Conservative Party conference in Birmingham on Sunday where he said ministers needed to act with 'humility' to restore relationships with the Republic and the EU. Photo: Jacob King/PA Wire
“The appointment of Steve Baker and Chris Heaton-Harris was seen as a positive sign, but all they have done is pander to nationalists and the Irish government.”
He said that street protest might again be necessary.
The Secretary of state for NI Chris Heaton-Harris shared the stage with Steve Baker and Lord Caine, his junior NIO minister. Photo: Jacob King/PA Wire
Ms Truss replied: “Yes, there will.”
Steve Baker, previously a member of the pro-Brexit European Research Group of MPs and now a junior minister at the Northern Ireland Office (NIO), told the Conservative conference in Birmingham that relations with Ireland were not “where they should be” and added that ministers needed to act with “humility” to restore relationships with the Republic and the EU.
The Wycombe MP told delegates: “The thing I want to add, as one of the people who perhaps acted with the most ferocious determination to get the UK out of the EU: I think we have to bring some humility to this situation.
“It is with humility that I want to accept and acknowledge that I and others did not always behave in a way which encouraged Ireland and the European Union to trust us, to accept that they have legitimate interests, legitimate interests that we are willing to respect.
“Because they do and we are willing to respect them, and I am sorry about that, because relations with Ireland are not where they should be and we all need to work extremely hard to improve that and I know that we are doing so.”
Mr Baker said: “The demise of our late majesty gave us the opportunity to meet leading Irish figures and I said to some of them I am sorry we did not always respect your legitimate interests. I hope they don’t mind.
“The counterpoint of that is resolve. No one should underestimate our resolve, this government’s resolve, to get progress on the protocol.
“It is not acceptable that North of Ireland is so separate from GB, right now under the protocol, the protocols at the moment which is only partially implemented. So we are absolutely resolute in getting change.
“That change is set out in the bill that we’ve presented, which is going through parliament in the House of Lords. But that combination of humility and resolve and that willingness to build up relations and say actually yes, we do want to be Ireland’s closest friends and partners as we all respect all three strands of the Belfast Good Friday Agreement.
“That is where we really ned to be. And I think that is where the mood is shifting” as people go for a negotiated solution.”
His boss, the Northern Ireland Secretary Chris Heaton-Harris, said he had “learnt a lot in the last few years” about the intricate links between the UK and Ireland. He gave the examples of the common travel area and common energy market between Northern Ireland and the Republic, telling the conference: “What we do independently in the United Kingdom, where we give £400 and other support to consumers of energy, actually can have some effect on the market in Ireland. I understand the complications. Maybe we could have understood them a bit better sooner.”
The new tone from ministers came after Foreign Secretary James Cleverly held his first call with Maros Sefcovic, the European Commission vice president. Mr Sefcovic described the call as a “good conversation”.
It also comes after a meeting Mr Heaton-Harris met the Irish foreign minister Simon Coveney in Northern Ireland last week. Mr Coveney talked warmly about how messages coming from London were “quite different” from the messages of a few months ago.
Jamie Bryson said: “This is the Irish government who put the protocol upon us, and yet Mr Baker is apologising to them. He can speak on behalf of himself because I imagine no genuine unionist or loyalist will be apologising to the Irish government. It’s looking increasingly likely that consideration as to street protest may once again be necessary. The NIO is smashing the trust of unionists and loyalists.
“Rather than apologising to the Irish government, the NIO should be apologising to the unionist and loyalist community for the damage inflicted upon the Union and their betrayal of Northern Ireland.
“At this rate Steve Baker and Chris Heaton Harris will be standing arms aloft on the stage at the next Ireland’s Future rally.”
With many thanks to the: News Letter and Ben Lowry in Birmingham for the original publication.
Follow these links to find out more on this story: Jamie Bryson: Government's clever legal footwork over the NI Protocol will not hoodwink the PUL
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