Northern Ireland Protocol deal: DUP HQ calls for cool heads as party pores over 'Stormont Brake' which some MPs have already dubbed useless

​Gordon Lyons was speaking after two of the party’s strongest Brexiteers – Sammy Wilson and Ian Paisley – both dismissed the concept, with the latter declaring it virtually worthless.

The Stormont Brake differs from the old arrangements laid out in the Protocol.

Those old arrangements only let the Stormont Assembly vote on whether to keep the Protocol going a maximum of once every four years – a vote which would have been virtually impossible for unionists to win, because it lacked a requirement for cross-community support.

With the number of unionists now outweighed by nationalists and others combined in the Assembly, it would have been a near certainty that SDLP, Sinn Fein and Alliance (all positive towards the Protocol) would see off any unionist challenge to keep the Protocol going.

By contrast, the Stormont Brake would be activated if 30 MLAs, drawn from at least two parties, demanded it.

No 10 says that "once pulled, that brake will give the UK government the sovereign power to veto the new EU rule from ever applying in Northern Ireland".

It is important to emphasise that pulling the brake does nothing in itself.

All it would do is grant the government the authority to take action – it does not oblige it to do anything.

But if the government did indeed agree with the MLAs, then it would suspend the imposition of the new EU law in question.

This law can then “only be subsequently applied in Northern Ireland if the UK and EU both agree to that jointly”.

However, the government says that any such decision to suspend a piece of EU law can be "challenged through independent arbitration mechanisms".

What is more, the brake can only be used for “new or amended EU goods rules that would have a significant impact on the day-to-day lives of businesses and citizens… the brake will not be available for trivial reasons”.

The News Letter is seeking clarity from the government and EU on who exactly will judge what "significant" means.

One thing the brake will not affect is any pre-existing EU goods rules which are in force right now – only "new or amended" ones.

Members of the DUP were hard to reach on Wednesday; those that answered were loath to talk, saying they were deep in the paperwork of the Windsor Framework, trying to take it in.

In a statement issued via party HQ, East Antrim DUP MLA Gordon Lyons, the NI-based spokesman on the Protocol, said: “We will take our time to fully explore this mechanism [the Stormont Brake], weigh up if it serves its purpose, and how it would be given effect.

"This is a time for calm heads and careful consideration.

"We will measure the Windsor Framework in its totality against our seven tests.

"In due course we will press the government for detailed clarity on the framework.”

The News Letter has sought clarity from the Northern Ireland Office, No10, and the EU about many of the specifics of the brake, but all such questions were unanswered at time of writing on Wednesday evening.

Earlier in the week, Sammy Wilson MP had told the BBC’s Newsnight show that the Stormont brake “will not work”.

"It starts with 30 MLAs objecting to some laws, not all laws,” he said.

"They have to have a ‘substantial impact’ – however that’s measured.

"And secondly, once they’ve been voted on by MLAs, it’s up to the UK government to decide whether those laws are vetoed, in discussions with the EU.

"Given the reluctance of the UK government to engage in any trade war with the EU, it's very unlikely that veto will ever be used.”

And Ian Paisley MP, speaking on GB News, similarly said it was so heavily subject to caveats as to make it almost useless.

He likened it to having a handbrake under the spare wheel in the boot of a car, adding: “If a handbrake is out of reach and impossible to use, it's not a handbrake.”