Keir Starmer: Labour would axe laws that override the Northern Ireland Protocol

The Labour Party leader confirmed on Friday that he will not only oppose the legislation aimed at changing the Protocol but would axe the law entirely if he is ever Prime Minister.

Speaking at Stormont during a visit to Belfast, Sir Keir also declined to specifically state if he would be actively pro-Union in Northern Ireland as Labour is in Scotland.

On this Monday’s legislation in Parliament enabling the Government to alter the Protocol, he said: “We do not think that this is the way forward, we won’t support it.

“I am not going to pretend that there aren’t issues, challenges, with the Protocol but I think they can be resolved around the negotiating table as long as we have the vital ingredients of statecraft, guile and high levels of trust on both sides. That means the EU has to be as flexible as the UK.

“When I think of all the issues, all the challenges that have been overcome in the last 20 years, I don’t think that the remaining issues of the Protocol are incapable of resolution.”

He continued: “We will not support the legislation which breaches international law and actually I think would be an impediment to the negotiated settlement that we all want in relation to this.”

If Labour got into power Sir Keir said: “We would scrap the legislation and I think there has been an impasse in the negotiations because we haven’t seen the high levels of trust that we need for negotiations like this, not least from our prime minister.”

Asked if he would advocate for the Union in Northern Ireland as much as Labour has done in Scotland, Sir Keir said: “On the question of Ireland, firstly I was in Dublin earlier this week reinforcing how important the relationship between Ireland and the UK is to me and my Labour Party. Reinforcing that we see our role as the honest broker to that envisaged under the Good Friday Agreement, a role that this Prime Minister is incapable of performing. And any issue on this for us is always seen through the lens of the Good Friday Agreement. We start with the Good Friday Agreement, the letter of it, the spirit of it.”

The Labour leader also confirmed his party will oppose the Government’s controversial legislation on the legacy of the Troubles including the effective amnesty for crimes committed during the conflict.

On the Northern Ireland Troubles (Legacy and Reconciliation) Bill, Sir Keir said: “We will not support that legislation.”

DUP leader Sir Jeffrey Donaldson said the Protocol issue is “too important for games” at Westminster.

Sir Jeffrey urged the Labour leader instead to use his influence to ensure his party avoids point-scoring against the Government on the forthcoming bill.

“We encourage the Labour Party to work constructively with the Government to take whatever steps are necessary to protect Northern Ireland’s place in the United Kingdom.”

The DUP leader added that it was “deeply concerning” that there are still voices in Dublin, Belfast and Brussels who cling to the Protocol and ignore the unstoppable case for change.

TUV leader Jim Allister said it was “unsurprising” that Sir Keir’s line on the Protocol turned out to be “exclusively nationalist.”

Mr Alister said: “Peddling the line that the Protocol can be resolved by more talks ignores two glaring realities: talks for months and years have produced nothing of substance because of EU intransigence and, secondly, there are deliberate design faults that can only be remedied by constitutional legislation.”

He said forthcoming legislation would only work by “reclaiming the sovereignty which the Protocol surrendered”, adding that this would mean “ending the colonisation of Northern Ireland in which the EU is engaged”.

The TUV leader said: “With the Labour Party having long railed against colonialism, one might have expected Keir Starmer to be concerned about these issues, but seemingly, not.”

The Northern Ireland Protocol Bill is on page five of the House of Commons’ agenda for this Monday put forward by Foreign Secretary Liz Truss.