ERG defends backing deal containing Irish Sea border – but now demands it be removed

The ERG’s support for Boris Johnson’s 2019 deal – which from the outset included the new trade frontier, something made clear in government analysis of the deal at the time – was critical to the Prime Minister getting his general election mandate to ratify that agreement.

However, now that the new internal UK trade frontier is in place and its impact is reaching myriad aspects of life, the ERG has pressed Mr Johnson to alter course.

Last week the group published a document setting out its opposition to the proposal and suggesting alternatives.

The ERG’s sudden concern about Northern Ireland – which was not evident when it rejected unionist pleas in 2019 and effectively prioritised Brexit over the Union – has intrigued some close observers of Westminster.

When asked why unionists should trust the ERG, after it abandoned them previously to vote for the Irish Sea border, the group’s deputy chairman David Jones told the News Letter: “You have to bear in mind that the NI Protocol is part of a larger Withdrawal Agreement which also has a political declaration  which made it absolutely clear that in relation to Northern Ireland both parties were to seek alternative arrangements to those set out in the protocol itself.”

He said that it was now clear that the EU is not going to consider any alternative to the protocol and for that reason – and having seen the practical problems caused by the border – the ERG now wanted the Irish Sea border removed.

It has been suggested that the entire UK more closely aligning with some EU rules – similar to what happens in Switzerland and Norway – would remove the need for many of the most onerous Irish Sea border checks.

However, Mr Jones gave no sense that the ERG would accept that route even though it would undo some of the damage to the Union.

The former Secretary of State for Wales said: “I certainly don’t believe we should leave the EU at the end of December 2020 to find ourselves tied to the same rules in February 2021”.

The Conservative MP said that a better alternative would be mutual enforcement alternative to the border, a proposal backed by Lord Trimble but rejected by the EU and which trade experts say would not wholly do away with the current Irish Sea border.

If mutual enforcement is rejected, Mr Jones said that “we should be introducing legislation in parliament to neutralise the impact that the protocol is having in Northern Ireland”.

Pressed on what that legislation would be, he said that it would be similar to the abandoned clauses in the Internal Market Bill which would allow the UK to “unilaterally neutralise the provisions of the protocol”.

When asked about NI Secretary of State Brandon Lewis’s claim that there is no Irish Sea border, Mr Jones said: “Well, I respectfully beg to differ from Brandon Lewis and I think people living in Northern Ireland would beg to differ too.”

Defending how the ERG had effectively prioritised Brexit over the integrity of the Union, Mr Jones said that “when Boris Johnson took over he had a very weak hand of cards”.

He claimed the ERG had “voted for the agreement on the  basis that we felt we’d got rid of the backstop and had a written undertaking from the EU that it would explore alternative arrangements to obviate the terms of the NI Protocol and we took the EU at its word.”

He said: “I have no doubt at all that Boris Johnson is a unionist and the debate we’ve initiated is at its earliest stages. We’re seeking to persuade the Prime Minister...I have a considerable amount of faith in Boris Johnson.”

When asked if  Mr Johnson - who shows no sign of moving away from the protocol – could credibly claim to be a unionist if he continues to endorse the Irish Sea border, Mr Jones said: “I’m not prepared to go down that route”.

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