Tory MPS: Let’s halt NI protocol

TORY MPS are calling for Britain to suspend one of the most controversial parts of the Brexit deal.

They want Article 16 of the Northern Ireland protocol to be immediately triggered.

MPS insist the move is a bid to secure peace and preserve the integrity of the UK.

The protocol, which requires Northern Ireland to follow EU rules on product standards, was agreed to avoid customs checks at the border with the Republic.

But instead it has created an “Irish sea border”, with goods arriving in Northern Ireland from Britain subject to checks.

Critics say it has disrupted trade and there is anger among elements of the unionist community at what they see as a lack of democratic consent.

Both the UK and the EU are able to invoke Article 16 if either side concludes the deal is leading to serious practical problems or causing diversion of trade.

It allows the sides to take safeguarding measures – in effect suspending parts of the deal.

The Conservative Union Research Unit, which says it numbers more than 80 MPS, is now pressing the Government to call a halt to checks on goods traded between Great Britain and Northern Ireland.

It comes as Foreign Secretary Liz Truss aims to strike a deal on the protocol with EC vicepresident Maros Sefcovic. The

Democratic Unionist Party has threatened to withdraw from the Stormont Assembly if changes are not made.

Conservative MP Robin Millar, chairman of the CURU, says triggering Article 16 is the best way to push both sides to agree new arrangements which avoid an Irish hard border and do not affect Northern Ireland’s status as a full part of the UK.

Warning that “trade between GB and NI is being strangled by checks”, the Aberconwy MP said invoking Article 16 would present the EU with a “serious

dilemma”, encouraging it to consider alternatives to the protocol.

He said: “Alternative arrangements are the pragmatic response to where we are. [There] is no need for a hard land or sea border and the peace process and the status of Northern Ireland in the UK can both be preserved.”

But SDLP Brexit spokesman Matthew O’toole said: “Triggering Article 16 would be an act of appalling recklessness.

“It is designed to excite Tory hardliners and the DUP, exactly the people who caused the Brexit mess in the first place.”