Editorial: The farce in which the popular Grassmen were sent back to Cairnryan shows the scale of the Irish Sea border

​The ever-tightening grip of the Irish Sea border is having an impact on the lives of people in Northern Ireland – and the government’s position of full and faithful implementation of the trade deal is increasingly wrong.

​Yesterday, yet another milestone in the rollout of the trade frontier was met. Even more products sold on our supermarket shelves will be slapped with ‘Not for EU’ labels.

As Lord Empey pointed out in the House of Lords, someone is going to have to pay for that – and ultimately it will be the consumer. The Ulster Unionist highlighted another key issue – the upcoming review of the wider post-Brexit deal between the UK and EU.

Negotiations on the trade and co-operation agreement next year will provide an opportunity for the UK government to show some backbone and stand up for the interests of local businesses and consumers by putting the Windsor Framework back on the agenda.

After all, ministers routinely tell us how they’re standing up for Northern Ireland’s interests.

It is also time for the local parties who have shown such devotion to the concept of a trade border in the Irish Sea – particularly in Alliance – to put their anti-Brexit sentiments aside and accept the problems with a regulatory border within the UK.

No matter how many easements the EU and UK together attempt, or even if the UK decided to protect its own market, issues are continually arising.

Today’s story about a lorry being turned back at Larne and sent back to Scotland for paperwork is merely an example. The unacceptable experience of the popular Grassmen, who show videos of cutting silage, being sent back to Cairnryan, demonstrates that there is indeed a very real sea border with complex rules, which businesses are having to try to navigate daily.