Premier’s key points ...unpicked
BORIS Johnson wrote a 2,000-word article for the Belfast Telegraph yesterday setting out his position on Northern Ireland. These are his key points – and what they mean in practice.
‘Focus on everyday issues. Schools. Hospitals. Cost of living. So, it is time for all of the local parties to get back to Stormont. Elect a Speaker. Create an Executive. Get back to work.’
The PM’s comments are a direct appeal to the DUP, which blocked the selection of a Speaker last week and is threatening to boycott Stormont until the Northern Ireland Protocol is scrapped.
Ministers hope that the promise of legislation to suspend parts of the Protocol will be enough to persuade the Unionists to return to powersharing. But DUP leader Sir Jeffrey Donaldson last night said: ‘The tabling of legislation is words... I need to see decisive action.’
‘Those who want to scrap the Protocol, rather than seeking changes, are focusing on the wrong thing. There is without question a sensible landing spot in which everyone’s interests are protected.’
Mr Johnson’s words are designed to rein in expectations of some Unionist and Tory MPs who want the Northern Ireland Protocol ditched completely. They are also meant to reassure both Brussels and Washington that while the Government is prepared to take unilateral action, it is still seeking a negotiated solution.
‘We stand above all else for the 199 Agreement. Its three strands. Its commitment to harmonious relations across all these islands. Strand Three of the Belfast Good Friday Agreement... is not functioning as it must... I hope the EU’s position changes. If it does not, there will be a necessity to act.’
Mr Johnson warns Brussels that he will always prioritise the Good Friday Agreement over the Northern Ireland Protocol. Although the Protocol was meant to protect the peace process, the PM says that in practice it has failed, leaving vital parts of the Good Friday Agreement ‘not functioning’. On this basis he reserves the right to take unilateral action to protect the peace process, even if this means cutting across the Brexit deal.
‘Every party, across the divide, seeks mitigations and change. None supports a zealous zero-risk approach to its implementation. None wants to see grace periods terminated, as the EU insist they must be in return for limited mitigations elsewhere.’
The PM says no one in Northern Ireland is happy with the functioning of the Protocol. Although the DUP wants it scrapped, he says even Sinn Fein believe its implementation has been too strict.