DUP leader Gavin Robinson says customs was a 'missed opportunity' in UK-EU trade deal
Gavin Robinson has questioned why the government is keeping Northern Ireland under the Windsor Framework, despite the fact that UK trading rules will be aligned with the European Union under a new deal between the pair.
The DUP leader says his party’s goal is to restore the legal, constitutional and trade relationship with the rest of the country “in its entirety”. He has also encouraged the government to be “ambitious” in dealing with the Irish Sea border.
His comments come after the biggest shift in trading arrangements between Great Britain and Northern Ireland since the Protocol split the UK into two separate markets for the trade in goods.
Speaking to the BBC, Mr Robinson asked why Northern Ireland is still having to proceed with aspects of the Windsor Framework.
“I think very particularly of labeling coming in on the first of July. Why veterinary medicines, for example, and I know the Ulster Farmers Union have welcomed the changes on agri-foods, and rightly so. But why [are] veterinary medicines… not incorporated in this arrangement? That seems like a missed opportunity.
“That customs are not incorporated in this arrangement – that's a missed opportunity. That standards on product safety are exactly the same in the United Kingdom as they are in the European Union, and yet manufacturing is not incorporated in this” he said.
The East Belfast MP said that the UK is moving closer to the European Union. “In those circumstances, why on earth do we need to retain border infrastructure, checking facilities and mammoth amounts of bureaucracy and paperwork?”, he asked.
Addressing the question of the purpose of the Windsor Framework in keeping an open border on the island of Ireland, Mr Robinson said: “If England is going to be aligned with the Republic of Ireland and the European Union, then why are we separated still?”
Mr Robinson said that the new deal is a step forward, but many questions remain. In Westminster on Tuesday, the DUP leader asked the Prime Minister if he would rid the UK of the divisions caused by the Windsor Framework, but he said it was important that the UK honoured its deals.