Windsor Framework and Northern Ireland Protocol: Government publishes full details for ‘Stormont Brake’

The brake was devised as part of the Stormont Framework, which was itself agreed by the EU and UK last month in a bid to resolve unionist concerns with the Northern Ireland Protocol.

The Protocol was agreed between the EU and UK to facilitate Brexit while avoiding placing an EU customs border on the island of Ireland - instead placing it between Northern Ireland and GB.

Unionists argue that the result has been to create EU excessive trading barriers between NI and GB - and that it has also undermined the constitutional position of NI in the UK, leaving NI behind under EU law.

The brake would be triggered if 30 MLAs from two different parties requested the UK suspend any new EU legislation which could impact NI.

The UK would then suspend the EU law while it goes through a series of steps to judge whether the law can be accepted by NI - or whether it should permanently veto it at the UK-EU level.

The Northern Ireland Assembly may be consulted by means of a cross community vote, but the UK government would also have the option of pushing the law through in unspecified "exceptional circumstances".

Earlier today, DUP leader Sir Jeffrey Donaldson said that his party would vote against the mechanism when it comes before the House of Commons for a vote on Wednesday.

“Since the announcement that the Stormont brake is to be debated and voted upon in Parliament on Wednesday, there have been a number of indications that this vote will be read as indicative of current positions on the wider Windsor Framework package," he said.

“Our party officers, the only decision-making mechanism in our party on these matters, met this morning and unanimously agreed that in the context of our ongoing concerns and the need to see further progress secured whilst continuing to seek clarification, change and re-working, that our Members of Parliament would vote against the draft statutory instrument on Wednesday.

“We will continue to work with the Government on all the outstanding issues relating to the Windsor Framework package to try to restore the delicate political balances within Northern Ireland and to seek to make further progress on all these matters.”

Read full details on the proposed Stormont Brake legislation here.