EU enforcement of universal phone charger for almost entire continent 'just another example of Protocol pickle facing Northern Ireland'

That is the view of Sir Reg Empey, who was commenting on the fact that a vote in the European Parliament to effectively ban everything except USB-C chargers will apply to Northern Ireland but not Great Britain.

These are the rather wide and flat types of plugs, as opposed to things like the Apple phone chargers, which are smaller, rounder, and have a little white strip on them.

Northern Ireland will have to abide by a new EU rule which will mean only a single type of mobile phone charger can be used

Sir Reg said it is another example of the “divergence” between the Province and the mainland UK.

The Protocol keeps Northern Ireland within the rules of the EU’s single market (meaning that things like product standards apply to Northern Ireland as if Brexit had never happened).

This change will kick in sometime in late 2024, and applies to the sale of mobile phones - but there is no firm date as yet. All laptops will have to follow suit by 2026.

The UK government will be responsible for policing this.

Sir Reg said: “The idea of having a universal charger would be welcome news to many users.

"But that’s not the point. The point is that it just illustrate the pickle Northern Ireland is in as a result of, not only the Protocol, but... an ill-thought-out Brexit, the details of which weren’t properly negotiated.

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"It illustrates the dangers of the Protocol in so far as it means that what you’ll see is divergence between Great Britain and Northern Ireland.”

It should serve as a sput to negotiators to try and hammer out a deal between the EU and UK, adding: “It’s outrageous that we’ve been sitting since February and nothing has been happening.

"There are signals that there are going to be negotiations now. I also hope Northern Ireland politicians are engaged this time, instead of being excluded which is a terrible mistake because NI politicians in Stormont have to implement a lot of this.

"It’s scandalous that no other group of people in the UK are affected more than we are [by the EU-UK negotiations] and to have our represe ntatives excluded from the process is unacceptable.”

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