Foreign Secretary Liz Truss tells DUP to 'get on with it' and restore Stormont after Brexit NI Protocol bill published

But DUP leader Sir Jeffrey Donaldson said they need to see the Protocol bill "moving forward" through Westminster 

   Foreign Secretary Liz Truss (Image: UK                 Parliament/Jessica Taylor) 

                   14th June, 2022. 

The Foreign Secretary has urged the DUP to "get on with it" and restore Stormont after the UK government tabled legislation to override the Northern Ireland Protocol.

Liz Truss said she wants Northern Ireland's power-sharing institutions to resume "as soon as possible" following the publication of the bill to scrap parts of the Brexit deal on Irish Sea trade.

But DUP leader Sir Jeffrey Donaldson said they need to see the bill "moving forward" through Westminster before taking any steps to end their veto on re-establishing the Stormont Assembly or Executive.

The Northern Ireland Protocol Bill, which was tabled on Monday, aims to ease checks on goods arriving into Northern Ireland from Great Britain.

But the proposed legislation, which has been heavily criticised by the EU and Irish government, could face strong opposition at Westminster amid claims it would breach international law.

Sir Jeffrey said: "There is a stark choice here for parliament.

"The Northern Ireland Protocol and Good Friday Agreement cannot exist together. One seriously harms the other."

He added: "Parliament can either choose to go forward with the [Good Friday] Agreement and the political institutions and stability in Northern Ireland, or the Protocol, but it can't have both."

The Lagan Valley MP said the bill was "real progress" but added: "We need to see the bill moving forward now. We need to see it going through its parliamentary stages."

He told BBC Radio Ulster's Good Morning Ulster programme: "We need this bill to progress as quickly as possible, and we will make our judgements based on the bill going forward and providing the solution that Northern Ireland needs."

Ms Truss said the British government expects to see the Stormont parties form an Assembly and a power-sharing Executive "as soon as possible".

Asked about the DUP, she added: "I would like them to get on with it as soon as possible."

The Protocol agreement between the UK and EU requires regulatory checks and customs declarations on goods moving from Great Britain to Northern Ireland.

Unionists have strongly opposed to the international treaty, claiming it has undermined the region’s place within the United Kingdom.

The DUP has blocked the formation of a new power-sharing government at Stormont following last month's Assembly election in protest.

A majority of MLAs on Monday signed a joint letter to Prime Minister Boris stating their opposition to the proposed legislation to override the Protocol.

Sinn Féin vice-president Michelle O'Neill accused the DUP of "punishing the public" and said the party's boycott was untenable.

Speaking on RTE’s Morning Ireland programme, she referenced millions of pounds in public funding which has not been allocated due to the absence of a fully functioning Executive.

"Here we are, 41 days post-election, and the DUP are denying the public access to funds that we could actually put into their pocket to help them to get through this period. I just don’t think that’s acceptable at all," she said.

"I just think it’s unfathomable that the DUP are adopting the stance and punishing the public by staying out of an Executive that could actually help people through this cost-of-living crisis.

"That is not a tenable position for them to take.

“The rest of us are there every day, all the other parties who want to work together, who want to form an Executive believe that we can do all of that."

Ms O'Neill accused the Prime Minister of a "reckless approach" and urged the British government to "find agreed solutions" with the EU to any issues with the Protocol.

With many thanks to: Belfast Live and Brendan Hughes Politicial reporter for the original publication.

Follow these links to find out more on this story: Concerning leader of the DUP Jeffrey Donaldson MP and the Good Friday Agreement from a Unionist perspective

Prime Minister Boris Johnson holds secret NI Protocol talks to appease the DUP and backbench Brexiteers

Important to remember that the UK govt and the DUP are not motivated by protecting the GFA or obtaining cross-community consent.

Foreign Secretary Liz Truss tells DUP to 'get on with it' and restore Stormont after Brexit NI Protocol bill published

NI Protocol: Food industry warns Protocol 'vital to trade'

Representatives of the *orthern Ireland food industry have warned the UK government that scrapping the Northern Ireland Protocol could damage their businesses.

The protocol is the part of the Brexit deal which keeps Northern Ireland inside the European Union's (EU) single market for goods.

It prevents a hard border with the Republic of Ireland.

But it means checks on some goods arriving from other parts of the UK.

On Monday, the government will begin the process of making radical unilateral changes to the protocol.

In May, Foreign Secretary Liz Truss said she would bring forward a new law to Westminster.

Businesses which import Great Britain goods to Northern Ireland have experienced difficulties with the protocol as the new checks and controls add cost and complexity.

Food and horticulture importers have faced the greatest problems as those goods face the most onerous controls.

However exporters, including food exporters, have benefited because unlike other parts of the UK they have maintained frictionless access to EU markets.

Michael Bell, the executive director of the Northern Ireland Food and Drink Association (NIFDA), said the protocol has been "vital to ensuring continuity of trade in goods across the island of Ireland, and between Northern Ireland and Great Britain".

"For a majority of our members, the protocol is working. For a minority, there have been issues," he said.

"Some of these have been addressed to an extent by the various 'grace periods', and NIFDA has been working with government to highlight areas where improvements can be made and processes streamlined.

"Simply scrapping the protocol would only set us back.

"We must not forget that Brexit itself presented Northern Ireland food and drink companies with many major challenges, most of which have been resolved by the protocol whilst offering new opportunities."

That was echoed by the *orthern Ireland Meat Exporters Association (NIMEA) who said the protocol, along with the UK-EU Trade and Cooperation Agreement, was providing "an effective and workable platform for trade between these islands and beyond".

Conall Donnelly, chief executive of NIMEA, said his members annually import about £200m in beef from Great Britain for further processing in Northern Ireland.

These imports are now subject to checks and controls but Mr Donnelly said the industry had coped with that.

He said: "Our members have adapted well to these checks and once they are complete, our members benefit from unfettered trade back to GB and onwards to the EU.

"This provides significant benefits relative to other UK and EU regions and our members are anxious that those benefits are protected.

"To facilitate trade it is essential that both the UK and EU commit to agreed solutions rather than either side taking unilateral action which risks retaliation from the other - potentially damaging trading relations in the process and jeopardising jobs and business opportunities in Northern Ireland."

   The *orthern Ireland Dairy Council has         warned about the impact of taking            unilateral action. IMAGE SOURCE,                            GETTY IMAGES. 

Last week the *orthern Ireland Dairy Council also warned the government about the possible impacts of taking unilateral action.

Food producers are understood to be particularly worried about the "dual regulatory regime" being proposed by the government.

That would mean that goods produced to both UK and EU standards could circulate in Northern Ireland.

Some critics of the protocol, including Lord Frost, have poured scorn on the idea that there is an island of Ireland economy which the protocol protects.

However for the food industry, particularly the dairy sector, the reality is a very high degree of cross-border integration.

Products can move back and forward across the frontier several times in their processing journey.

So if unilateral changes to the protocol create ambiguity about the regulatory status of Northern Ireland goods, these supply chains will be under threat.

It's not surprising then that the food sector has found it voice.

Last month the foreign secretary said the new legislation will "remove regulatory barriers to goods made to UK standards being sold in Northern Ireland".

"Businesses will be able to choose between meeting UK or EU standards in a new dual regulatory regime," she added.

Food producers are concerned that would create confusion or ambiguity about whether their goods were being produced to EU standards and if they could access the single market.

Dairy Council chief executive, Mike Johnston, used the hypothetical example, that if wheat produced using pesticides banned by the EU was used as animal feed on Northern Ireland dairy farms, then the milk produced would not be permitted to cross the border.

With many thanks to: BBCNI and John Campbell BBC NI Economics and Business for the original publication. 

Follow these links to find out more on this story: Westminster 'pushing disingenuous claim protocol is incompatible with the Good Friday Agreement'

Guardian View on overriding the Brexit treaty: a national disgrace

NI Protocol: Food industry warns Protocol 'vital to trade'