Windsor Framework: 'No other region on the planet has this level of economic access and political good will'

For three quarters of a millennium, ‘cardinal directions’ have been used to indicate the path to reach a destination, refined by the addition of ordinal directions, and more.

To stand in Northern Ireland and be given the cardinal direction that ‘Washington is around 3,000 miles to the west’ gives a good sense of where it is and how long it might take to reach – but it wouldn’t be remotely sufficient for accurate navigation. Huge amounts of detail are required in order to reach the precise destination safely, reliably, and in a way that can be accurately replicated. There is a parallel with the Windsor Framework.

It gives a good idea of the cardinal direction but it is short on detail. That does not mean that the direction it sets is wrong; but it does mean that to reach the agreed destination, we need more information. Importantly, the destination has been agreed by the EU and UK. It is set, negotiation is concluded, but not all of the detail has yet been forthcoming - and these must come from the UK government.A fortnight ago, a large delegation of business leaders, politicians, and others followed a cardinal direction and headed west to America for the annual St Patrick’s week pilgrimage. We placed responsibility for the finer navigation, logistics, and paperwork in the hands of our airline to get us safely to our destination; a timely reminder of the need to complement a general plan with fine detail - just as we need to do with the Windsor Framework.

Once in Washington it was clear that the Windsor Framework was being seized upon as the definitive route map towards the sunny uplands of a prosperous Northern Ireland economy. There was an acceptance that detailed operational interpretations are yet to emerge but there was excitement that an overarching agreement had been reached that responded to the myriad issues and challenges that business had highlighted in the original NI Protocol. Importantly, it has also been perceived as a ‘re-set’ moment in the UK’s international relations, where the Prime Minister has emerged as a pivotal player.FSB opened the week of activity in Washington by hosting a boardroom lunch meeting with the recently appointed US Special Economic Envoy, Joe Kennedy III and a number of Northern Ireland’s most influential civic leaders. This was a highly invigorating encounter, where guests not only shared their ambition for Northern Ireland, but assessed our strengths that would let us deliver on that vision and no one present failed to recognise that we have an extraordinary opportunity within our grasp. The only real question is whether we will have the courage to seize it and make it work, or whether we will squander it for fear of the unknown.In essence, the Windsor Framework enshrines our unique access to two of the largest markets; whilst the US is also determined to play its part in a way that ensures we are closely linked to their own massive market, too. No other region on the planet has this level of economic access and political good will; it is now up to us to make sure that the Framework is interpreted and applied in a way that really works. Get this right, and we could be shaping the ‘Economic Good Friday Agreement’ that will forge a Prosperity Process for the next twenty five years and more – one where businesses can choose to trade in the UK, Europe, or both; where Northern Ireland can grow and prosper to become ‘the Singapore of the Western Hemisphere’; and where jobs and prosperity can provide the wealth to address many of our underlying societal challenges.It is clear that there is extraordinary goodwill in America to help us in this process, so we need to find a way of harnessing it without losing momentum. If Northern Ireland can be the gateway to US investment in the UK, that will be a major benefit to all of us; similarly, if we can be in the vanguard of trading in the opposite direction, that will also be of key importance in wider UK-US trading relations.That is the prize which could be ours if we hold the Prime Minister to account on his commitment to make Northern Ireland the most exciting economic zone on the planet and transpose the Framework into legislation and regulation in a way that works. But given that the negotiation with the EU has concluded, the real challenge now lies in making sure that the UK devises and implements any necessary regulations with the lightest of touches. The Prime Minister must demand of his Ministers and officials that any checks and processes required by the Windsor Framework do nothing to damage Northern Ireland’s integral part of the UK’s internal market and the whole machinery of government must resist the practice of ‘gold plating’ regulations. If he plays his part, then so will Northern Ireland’s businesses, and we will all reap the benefit.