Fears for NI trade after reports Johnson is trying to get around Brexit protocol
CONCERN has been expressed over reports that the Prime Minister has ordered his Brexit team to find ways to “get around” the Northern Ireland protocol in his agreement with the EU.
The Sunday Times has reported that officials in Taskforce Europe are seeking to evade Irish Sea checks on goods passing from Great Britain to Northern Ireland.
Boris Johnson’s cabinet will meet tomorrow to sign off on the proposals, it was reported.
They are expected to be presented in Parliament and published online on Thursday.
The Withdrawal Agreement between the UK and EU leaves Northern Ireland within the United Kingdom’s customs area but all EU procedures will apply to goods arriving there. A UK
Government spokesman said: “The UK signed the Withdrawal Agreement, including the protocol, last month. The UK will comply with its obligations.”
Mr Johnson has repeatedly insisted there would be no checks between goods travelling between Great Britain and Northern Ireland, despite the Withdrawal Agreement suggesting there would be.
Sinn Fein MP Chris Hazzard (right) said the UK Government “must not be allowed to sidestep their responsibilities”.
The South Down MP said: “Reports that Boris Johnson has instructed his Brexit negotiating team to find a way to ‘work around’ protocols recently agreed between the EU and the British government are deeply concerning. While there is no such thing as a good Brexit, the protections secured in the Irish Protocol and Withdrawal Agreement offer some protections to local communities and businesses in the north.
“It now appears the British Government is planning to ride roughshod over what has already been agreed; this would be completely unacceptable. We need to see the EU27 and the Irish government protecting what has already been agreed on the north and working to prevent the Tories from adopting an a la carte approach to their international obligations and responsibilities. Businesses in the north depend on these protections and they cannot be set aside unilaterally by the Tories.”