Lord Dodds: Kate Hoey and I are tabling a Westminster amendment to try to restore necessary balance to Stormont institutions

The delicate balance of relationships across these islands have been trashed as a result of the Northern Ireland Protocol.
Lord Dodds and Baroness Hoey have tabled an amendment at Westminster to the Northern Ireland (Ministers, Elections and Petitions of Concern) Bill, to restore the balance required to sustain the continuation of the Stormont institutionsLord Dodds and Baroness Hoey have tabled an amendment at Westminster to the Northern Ireland (Ministers, Elections and Petitions of Concern) Bill, to restore the balance required to sustain the continuation of the Stormont institutions
Lord Dodds and Baroness Hoey have tabled an amendment at Westminster to the Northern Ireland (Ministers, Elections and Petitions of Concern) Bill, to restore the balance required to sustain the continuation of the Stormont institutions

It has driven a coach and horses through the cross-community consent principle which has been at the very heart of all political progress in Northern Ireland.

The basis of the Belfast Agreement and all subsequent agreements, has been the requirement for significant issues to command the support of both communities in Northern Ireland.

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One of the most significant changes to the structure of the Northern Ireland Assembly and the principle of consent was made in subordinate legislation, not by primary legislation, in an Act of Parliament, but unilaterally by the government in Parliament, making a fundamental change to the way in which the assembly takes decisions.

Again, there was no vote in Stormont on such a matter, only one which was made unilaterally.

The significance of that should not be underestimated. The government’s argument was that this is not a devolved matter.

Of course, the reality is that if it is not a devolved matter, there should not be a vote in the Northern Ireland Assembly at all. If it is not a devolved matter, it is a vote for Parliament. By giving the vote to the assembly, they then decided to change the voting mechanism to ensure that one outcome would be agreed. That, on top of everything else regarding the protocol, has rightly exercised unionists of all parties, backgrounds and descriptions in Northern Ireland.

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There now is only one key vote, one important decision—probably the most important one of all — which cannot now be a cross-community vote.

That is the vote in 2024 on whether the NI protocol should continue to apply; in other words, whether all the EU laws on manufactured goods, agri-foods, VAT, state aid, and so on—those matters covered by Articles 5 to 10 of the Northern Ireland protocol—should continue to apply in Northern Ireland and to its people.

If the government believes that unionists in Northern Ireland would tolerate a situation where the protocol would be exempt from these same cross-community consent requirements, then they need to think again.

I have tabled an amendment with Baroness Hoey to the Northern Ireland (Ministers, Elections and Petitions of Concern) Bill, which seeks to restore that precious balance required to sustain the continuation of the political institutions in Northern Ireland.

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It is simply unsustainable for people to expect that the institutions will just operate as normal while the East-West relationship continues to be undermined.

In a week in which the UK government extended free unfettered access for goods moving from the Irish Republic to Great Britain, the intransigence of the European Union must now come to an end.

Urged on by the Dublin government, they continue to insist on the protocol with its restrictions and barriers on goods moving from GB to Northern Ireland.

How long are the impacts on the Republic to be cushioned through unilateral action by the UK government while we in Northern Ireland are made to endure the undemocratic protocol restrictions and checks? Urgent action is required from the government.

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If done in a timely way, they would go some way towards alleviating the current crisis and perhaps avoiding what is coming down the road.

• Lord Dodds is a former DUP deputy leader

• More comment below:

• Extract from ‘The Idea of the Union’ Dec 11: Lawfare against the UK state by nationalists cannot lose

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• Authors of ‘The Idea of the Union’ Oct 30: We probe Irish nationalist myths in our new book which defends the Union

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