Chris Heaton-Harris: We will see how Windsor Framework will work in practice and listen to concerns

Northern Ireland now enjoys the same VAT, alcohol duty and energy tax rules as the rest of the UK, which it did not under the old Northern Ireland Protocol. Concerns over the supply of human medicines have been addressed. Earlier this month the Northern Ireland Investment Summit saw businesses from around the world come to Northern Ireland - underlining what an exciting place this is for business investment.

From this Sunday further changes roll out – meaning that previously banned goods like sausages and seed potatoes will be able to move again to Northern Ireland. Businesses will see paperwork cut and many more traders will be able to benefit from the Windsor Framework.

Some major UK food retailers, which were excluded from the old “grace periods”, faced burdensome red tape moving food into Northern Ireland under the old system, but can now move products through the green lane. The steak bake or infamous sausage roll will never again need to be accompanied by a signed certificate from a vet to move into NI from GB, removing a major irritant with the old arrangements.

This is the culmination of months of work, after the UK and EU came to an agreement to change the old Northern Ireland Protocol.

You may notice some of these changes in your local shop. Consumers both here and in other parts of the UK will see “not for EU” labels and other information in stores on some products, to prevent these from being sold in Ireland. To ensure consistency across the UK, these labels on meat and dairy will apply in stores in Great Britain next year. And it is consistency across the UK that we are delivering, allowing UK food safety standards to apply in a way that the old protocol failed to do.

I know that some people remain concerned about how the framework will work in practice. I have always been clear that the government will listen to those concerns and there is scope to address them.

We have engaged with the DUP extensively over the summer. It is already the case that honest feedback and proposals put forward by the party have put us in a better place on the green lane than we otherwise would have been. We have worked closely with businesses across the UK to help them understand how the new systems will work.

The strong appetite from businesses to take advantage of new facilitations shows that the framework can deliver what it was intended to do - improving and expanding the flow of goods in the UK internal market. Over 1,600 new businesses are now registered under the new UK Internal Market Scheme, who were not members of the previous UK Trader Scheme and all of which can now move their eligible goods free from costly tariffs.

Due to the creation of the green lane, the substantial majority of trade moving between Great Britain and Northern Ireland will be treated as UK internal trade. We will look to try to increase that proportion wherever we can.

What is more, the vast majority of Northern Ireland’s economic life remains umbilically connected to the rest of the UK – most of the economy remains in any event untouched by anything in the Windsor Framework.

As ever though, there is still more work to do.

With any new process, it is important to work through and fix any problems identified by businesses. We share their desire to maximise trade flows in all directions. We will of course continue to work with traders over the coming weeks and months and find solutions where problems occur.

We are also in the final stages of a period of constructive engagement with the DUP. We are pulling together a comprehensive package of proposals that we hope will address their concerns. I have no doubt that it is their genuine desire to focus on concrete improvements and to create a situation that will enable the Stormont executive to be restored.

I firmly believe that restoration of the institutions is right for Northern Ireland and right for the future of the Union. To address concerns about divergence between Northern Ireland and Great Britain, we have to not only show that goods trade is working, we also have to show we are tackling worrying disparities on healthcare waiting lists, on childcare, on environmental pollution, on pay for our teachers, nurses and hardworking public servants, and on hundreds of smaller decisions being taken every day. To do that we need a devolved government here.

Over the coming weeks we have a chance to move forward, to move on from Brexit and get Northern Ireland moving again. Together we can make this work for everyone in Northern Ireland.

n Chris Heaton-Harris MP is Secretary of State for Northern Ireland