Chris Heaton-Harris: House of Lords report confirms that Windsor Framework is best deal for Northern Ireland

“It is the best deal for Northern Ireland – delivering the smooth flow of trade, safeguarding NI's place in the UK and giving the people of NI a say in the rules that govern them through the new Stormont Brake.”

Mr Heaton-Harris (pictured) noted that the report compared the Windsor Framework (WF) to the previous grace periods under the NI Protocol, where the EU had temporarily set aside import regulations on goods coming into NI from GB. The old grace periods were “temporary and never a realistic permanent option” he said.

“And let’s be clear: the [Windsor] Framework is also a huge advance on previous grace periods.”

Such grace periods were not open to all traders, he said, and did not resolve EU bans on certain goods coming into NI.

By contrast, he said, the WF proposes a green lane for goods coming in from GB which will remain within NI; such goods will be exempt from EU import bureaucracy.

Any goods which might cross the border into the south must go through the red lane and be subject to full EU import procedures.

But the benefit of the green lane, he said, is that it is open to thousands more businesses across the UK, applies UK food and drink safety standards, lifts bans on all kinds of plants and plant products and removes a range of paperwork and costs. New WF arrangements also ensure UK medicines and VAT rules can apply in NI too, he added.

“To realise its full benefits, as the report sets out, an executive must be restored so that locally elected politicians can take advantage of the opportunities for a much greater say for Northern Ireland and for Stormont.”

The Foreign Office said that the WF will ensure the smooth flow of goods with GB and protect the Union.