DUP minister Edwin Poots says legal advice told him to allow Irish Sea border

Eleven days ago the agriculture and environment minister did a U-turn on a U-turn – recanting on his decision earlier that week to tell his officials to halt work on the border, which itself had been a change of stance from previous months where he permitted that work to go on.

Whitehall department DEFRA has made clear it did not need to deploy the nuclear option for the government if Mr Poots was standing in the way of Boris Johnson’s Brexit deal being implemented, by ordering him under Section 26 of the Northern Ireland Act to do the work.

That stance contrasted with Mr Poots having told TUV leader Jim Allister that he had “no intention of facilitating infrastructure at Northern Ireland ports”

Today Mr Poots faced questions about the issue in the Assembly.

When asked about border infrastructure at Warrenpoint Port – one of at least three ports and two airports where checks will take place from the start of next year - Mr Poots said: “It’s not a matter that I am taking forward. That is a matter that the SRO [the senior responsible officer, one of his civil servants] is looking after. I don’t wish to see any further developments at Warrenpoint Port for points of entry [checks].

“I have made that clear to both [DEFRA minister] George Eustice and others. However, the UK government wish to see it, they want to pay for it, and they have given very clear expectations to the senior civil servant in this case who is taking it forward and that is the case.

“I have no legal remit to stop it in that all of the legal advice that has came [sic] from both the Departmental Solicitor’s Office and indeed the advice that has came [sic] from the Attorney General would indicate that a ministerial direction to an official which would oblige an official to break the law is not a ministerial direction which would have any standing.”

Mr Poots did not explain why in light of that advice he had initially halted the work and then – according to Executive sources – defended his actions at the Executive when a senior civil servant cited legal advice that what he had done was untenable.

Mr Poots also told MLAs that “one of the issues that remains outstanding relates to IT and there seems to be a bit of an issue between an IT system that has been used in the UK for many years and the EU’s non-acceptance of it which will almost certainly ensure that we are not operationally ready.”

After less than a week defying PM, DUP minister U-turns to allow officials to work on Irish Sea border checks

DUP minister Edwin Poots halted work on Irish Sea border posts after party meeting

Sam McBride: The DUP and Brexit – from backing Leave on a whim to Arlene Foster’s ‘blood red line’, and now her surrender

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