Tory Brexiteers demand ministers show details of plans for Northern Ireland

MPs approved the Taxation (Post-Transition Period) Bill at second reading and it later cleared committee stage without amendment.

The Bill seeks to introduce the framework for customs duty charges on goods arriving in Northern Ireland from both Great Britain and other countries, as well as a customs duty charge for goods arriving in Great Britain from Northern Ireland that do not qualify for unfettered access to UK markets.

Conservative Sir Bill Cash, chairman of the European Scrutiny Committee, said he intends to table amendments during the Bill’s report stage next week which could enable ministers to override the Withdrawal Agreement in order to protect the relationship between Great Britain and Northern Ireland.

Similar powers are to be dropped from the UK Internal Market Bill following confirmation that the UK and EU have reached an agreement on the implementation of the divorce deal, resolving issues relating primarily to the Northern Ireland protocol.

But Sir Bill, the MP for Stone, said the “unfettered sovereignty” of the UK Parliament must be protected.

He added whether or not he pushes the amendments depends on the state of the Brexit talks.

Sir Bill told the Commons: “I am not going to buy a pig in a poke and accept the idea that it’s all over and done with because somebody made a statement, who happens to be a Government minister (Michael Gove), from Brussels yesterday and comes to the House and put forward his case today but we haven’t seen the detail.

“I want to reserve my position until I know exactly what the outcome of these negotiations are.”

Tory former minister Sir John Redwood also described the Bill as “rather unfortunate”.

He said: “I hope the Government will think again and push back again and I think we do need more of the detail that the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster (Mr Gove) has so far withheld from this House, maybe he doesn’t yet know it all, maybe his agreement is high level in principle.”

He said: “We’ve had precious little time to go into the detail.

“So I think it’s all very sad that this rush job is being done like this, but I do hope before the Government finishes its debate today, it will have done a better job of explaining to someone like me why we need to have this dual jurisdiction, how the EU control is going to be limited, how it is going to operate and how in the early days when we’re told there are transitional arrangements, those are going to apply and why they aren’t reflected in the current text of this rather unfortunate piece of legislation.”

Treasury minister Jesse Norman said the “fundamental purpose” of the Bill is to preserve the unity of the nation.

He earlier told MPs: “This legislation seeks to ensure that businesses in every part of the UK can continue to trade smoothly after the end of the transition period.

“But its particular focus is on those businesses that are based in Northern Ireland or that work with Northern Ireland companies.

“The Government has always been clear that it must deliver on its pledge to provide unfettered access for Northern Ireland’s businesses to the rest of the UK internal market and it has been equally unstinting in its determination to uphold its commitment to the people of Northern Ireland under the Northern Ireland protocol and to protect the progress made under the Belfast Good Friday Agreement.

“This Bill will help us support those commitments by providing legal certainty for the customs, VAT and excise systems in Northern Ireland after the end of the transition period.”

For Labour, shadow chancellor Anneliese Dodds raised concerns about how businesses can prepare for the end of the transition period without crucial details, and said the “last-minute approach was not necessary”.

The SNP’s Treasury spokeswoman, Alison Thewliss, warned that the Bill “just adds a further sledgehammer on the support structures” of the union.