Truss: We cannot allow protocol situation to drift

In her first Prime Minister’s Questions in the House of Commons yesterday, Ms Truss said discussions with Brussels would centre on what her Government is trying to achieve through the controversial Northern Ireland Protocol Bill.

Responding to a parliamentary question by outgoing Northern Ireland Secretary Shailesh Vara about the status of the Bill, the Prime Minister said: “We need to resolve the issue of the Northern Ireland Protocol.

“My preference is for a negotiated solution, but it does have to deliver all the things that we set out in the Northern Ireland Protocol Bill.

“What we cannot allow is for this to drift, because my number one priority is protecting the supremacy of the Belfast/Good Friday Agreement.”

Senior DUP sources pointed out last night that this is the first time the new Prime Minister has publicly linked any new negotiations with the EU to the demands set out in the legislation, which is soon to be scrutinised in the House of Lords.

One veteran DUP parliamentary described Ms Truss’ response in the Commons as “highly significant because it was on the record in Hansard.”

Meanwhile new Northern Ireland Secretary Chris Heaton-Harris yesterday urged Stormont party leaders to form an executive “as soon as possible”.

In his opening remarks to the Commons, Mr Heaton-Harris, who was appointed to the role on Tuesday night, told MPs that he would be speaking to each of the party leaders in Northern Ireland about the current situation.

He told MPs: “I know the House shares my view that Northern Ireland needs a stable, fully functioning devolved government to deliver on the issues that matter to people most.”

The DUP withdrew from the Executive earlier this year in protest over the post-Brexit Northern Ireland Protocol, the special arrangement that keeps Northern Ireland in the EU’s single market for goods, avoiding a hard border with the Republic of Ireland.

All unionists believe the NI Protocol has created an economic border between NI and GB down the Irish Sea.

The Government’s Bill will give ministers powers to override parts of the agreement. The legislation is expected to meet with more resistance from Europhile Peers in the House of Lords this month than it did during its relatively smooth passage through the House of Commons during the summer.

Mr Heaton-Harris said he would prefer a negotiated settlement with the European Union, but the UK Government remained committed to progressing the Northern Ireland Protocol Bill.

Conservative former Northern Ireland secretary Theresa Villiers said: “The main barrier to the resumption of devolved power-sharing government is of course the Northern Ireland Protocol.

“So will he undertake to push that legislation through as quickly as possible and use the Parliament Act to get it through if necessary?”

Mr Heaton-Harris replied in the Commons: “We are committed to resolving the problems in the protocol, ideally through a negotiation, but, if not, through legislation, so yes.”

Shadow Northern Ireland secretary Peter Kyle sought assurances that the UK Government’s position on getting Stormont up and running was unchanged, with Mr Heaton-Harris replying: “We’re very clear, the protocol negotiation is between the EU and the UK, but yes the position is completely unchanged.”

He later told Mr Kyle: “I am very keen we try and negotiate a solution with the European Union and sort out the issues of the protocol.

“However, we do have legislation ready, we’ve discussed it in this House and if we do not get a negotiated solution, we will legislate.”

DUP MP Sammy Wilson (East Antrim) told Mr Heaton-Harris: “I hope he will be successful in doing what is necessary to get Stormont restored, namely removing the poison of the protocol.”

Mr Heaton-Harris is expected in Northern Ireland later for meetings with political leaders.