Intertrade UK body to meet today as Hilary Benn says it will ‘protect the UK internal market'

The Secretary of State will announce five trade and economy experts who will sit on the ​Intertrade UK panel – including economist Dr Esmond Birnie from Ulster University and the head of the Federation of Small Businesses (FSB NI) Roger Pollen.

Both have expressed concerns about the impact of the Windsor Framework on the Northern Ireland economy, with a recent FSB NI submission to a parliamentary inquiry describing the arrangements as having come at “great cost, with no commensurate benefit”.

The new body was agreed under the Safeguarding the Union deal between the DUP and the previous UK government – and will be chaired by Baroness Arlene Foster.

It is being sold by the government as kickstarting a “drive to boost trade” – and “strengthen and protect the UK internal market for businesses across the country”. Hilary Benn said: “East West trade is essential for UK growth, and part of the success of Intertrade UK will be to ensure that people can enjoy the full benefits of the UK internal market for both goods and services”.

“This was an important commitment in the Safeguarding the Union command paper, and with this experienced panel of members in place, I look forward to seeing Intertrade UK play an important role in promoting UK-wide trade and economic growth.”

Former First Minister Baroness Arlene Foster, said: “The Safeguarding the Union Command paper had strengthening the UK internal market at its core”. She added that panel members “have a wealth of experience on trade in and out of Northern Ireland and we will immediately get to work looking at challenges which have been identified and if and how these can be practically resolved”.

The other panel members are: Kirsty McManus - Northern Ireland Director, Institute of Directors, Suzanne Wylie - Chief Executive Officer, Northern Ireland Chamber of Commerce and Angela McGowan - Director for Northern Ireland, Confederation of British Industry.

Last year, the permanent secretary of the Department of Economy Ian Snowden said that the primary focus of the new body would be to promote Northern Irish businesses in Great Britain – but at that stage there was a lack of detail on Intertrade UK.

He said the department had “started to look at the work that was done around the establishment of InterTrade Ireland as being a starting point for how that might work”.

The government’s Safeguarding the Union command paper – part of a deal with the DUP to restore Stormont – said it “will create the structures, including a new body - Intertrade UK - to support, facilitate and boost trade within the United Kingdom”.

It also said there would be “immediate work to identify ways to ensure that businesses can supply goods and services to the whole of the UK, including exploring how Intertrade UK can provide the information and clarification that businesses need to simplify and reduce unnecessary burdens in making their goods and services available in all parts of the UK.

In January, Gavin Robinson said the government had been slow to enable Intertrade UK to get to work.