Gross misrepresentation about the Government’s protocol deal is exposed: Lord Dodds

Lord Dodds said NI Secretary Chris Heaton-Harris “should be forced to apologise” for stating that the so-called Stormont brake element of the Windsor Framework agreement gives the Assembly a final say on the imposition of EU legislation in Northern Ireland.

Earlier this month, Mr Heaton-Harris suggested the UK Government would be bound by the new legislation to allow the NI Assembly a veto on new EU laws in Northern Ireland.

Following the publication of the secondary legislation on Monday, Lord Dodds said that assertion has been shown to be false.

“The Secretary of State should be forced to apologise to the people of Northern Ireland after the latest example of gross misrepresentation about the government’s protocol deal is exposed,” Lord Dodds said.

“It is crystal clear from the published Statutory Instrument on the so called Stormont Brake that his assertions about the final role of the Assembly were false.

“So keen was he to promote this device that he told us the UK government would be bound by the decision of the Assembly. This turns out to be completely absent from the text of the legislation.

“The published legislation contains no such binding provision. It does not give the final say to the Assembly. It can be overridden.

“Not for the first time the government is guilty of egregious falsehoods.”

Lord Dodds said it was no surprise the government is “rushing this legislation through without proper Parliamentary scrutiny,” and added: “Its cavalier attitude to the truth has been laid bare once again.

“This follows a litany of such exposures on everything from the red and green lanes issue, VAT, State Aid, plants and food standards, to name but a few.

“It is appalling behaviour and signals that unionists are right to refuse to play the government’s shoddy game which is to get the Assembly up and running at any cost despite it requiring unionists to implement their deal and be complicit in the undermining of the Union.”

In response, a UK Government spokesman said: "The legislation published today (Monday) means Ministers are bound by law to trigger the Stormont Brake quickly when the conditions in the Windsor Framework are met.

"Triggering the Brake stops the new EU rule from applying in Northern Ireland.

"And we have gone further today by providing a second level of protections so Ministers are bound to permanently veto the rule in the Joint Committee unless it has cross-community support; would not create new regulatory borders within the UK; or there are exceptional circumstances, such as there being no Assembly to provide a view."