Letter: Could the lack of freeports in Northern Ireland be due to the protocol? The public deserves answers
A letter from Johnny Andrews:
William Mitchell posed the question why Northern Ireland has no freeports while there are 12 in England, Scotland and Wales (NI lagging behind GB without any freeports, June 3).
Let me refer you to a letter from Lord Kilclooney of Armagh, November 6, 2021 which posed the possible answer.
In answer to the noble Lord’s question in Parliament, the minister stated: "We need to ensure we meet our legal international obligations.”
‘So the delay in NI but not in England to decide upon a freeport is an international obligation which the minister failed to define.
‘Could the delay in selecting an NI freeport be another example of the damage to NI economy by the Northern Ireland Protocol? Is that the international obligation which results in freeports in England but the delay in selecting any in Northern Ireland?’
Those who negotiated the ‘Safeguarding the Union’ deal may have been less than honest on the restrictions still imposed on Northern Ireland due to the NI Protocol on many areas of business, trade and commerce in NI with regards EU state aid rules including freeports.
William Mitchell and Lord Kilclooney deserve answers, as do we all.
Johnny Andrews, former deputy chairman of NI Conservatives and Parliamentary candidate for Strangford