Boris Johnson tells DUP: Urgent action is needed from EU over NI Protocol

Boris Johnson told Arlene Foster that “urgent action” from the European Union was needed to resolve issues with the Northern Ireland Protocol.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson met the DUP on Wednesday morningPrime Minister Boris Johnson met the DUP on Wednesday morning
Prime Minister Boris Johnson met the DUP on Wednesday morning

A Downing Street spokesman said: “The Prime Minister spoke to Northern Ireland First Minister Arlene Foster this morning.

“They spoke about the EU’s actions from Friday and their shared concern that the processes set out in the Protocol were ignored.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

“The Prime Minister restated his commitment to Northern Ireland as an integral part of our Union and underlined that we would do everything we could to ensure trade continues to flow effectively right across our United Kingdom.

“He welcomed the First Minister’s engagement with the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, and urged that this co-ordinated work continues to ensure that the Protocol works in the interests of the people of Northern Ireland.

“The Prime Minister said that we needed urgent action from the EU to resolve outstanding problems with Protocol implementation, so as to preserve the gains of the Belfast Good Friday Agreement and to ensure that Northern Ireland benefits in full from the UK’s exit from the EU.

“They agreed to keep in touch.”

Following the party’s call with the Prime Minister, a DUP spokesman said Mr Johnson had indicated he wanted to resolve the outstanding issues with the protocol by the end of March.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

“The Prime Minister indicated that he was deeply shocked ‘by the cavalier approach adopted by the EU’ last Friday and without consultation,” the party statement said.

“He recognised that such actions by the EU undermines the authority of the protocol. Again it was made clear to him that the protocol is without support within the unionist community.

“The Prime Minister said there was a duty under the Belfast Agreement to sort these matters out, that we could not have a situation within the United Kingdom where there were barriers to movement across a range of areas including plants, seed potatoes and British beef, and that it was plain the protocol was being used in an absurd way.

“The Prime Minister said what the EU was doing ‘goes beyond the bounds of common sense’. The DUP again made clear that this is the reality of what was agreed by the UK and EU.”

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

The DUP statement continued: “The Prime Minister said that he would use all the instruments at his disposal, including that he “is prepared to use Article 16” to get things done and to legislate if necessary.

“The Prime Minister has said that his timetable for getting all these matters sorted is the end of March.

“For our part we have been clear to the Prime Minister that the people and businesses of Northern Ireland cannot continue to be subjected to the undermining of Northern Ireland’s place with the UK internal market as a consequence of the protectionist attitude of the European Union.

“We want to see permanent solutions developed and barriers to trade between Great Britain and Northern Ireland lifted.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

“Sticking plaster solutions and grace periods that kick the can down the road will not solve these problems.

“It is now up to the Prime Minister to back up his words with tangible actions that protect the integrity of the whole of the United Kingdom. We will continue to engage with the UK Government on all these issues but have underlined that long-term workable solutions will need to be found quickly because Northern Ireland needs to be free of this protocol.”