Putting Protocol Bill 'on ice' confirms my worst fears about Rishi Sunak, says Arlene Foster

Baroness Foster lamented the fact there “doesn’t seem to be any urgency” about pushing the bill through, and hence restoring devolution in Northern Ireland.

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The baroness, who as of last month is a non-party-affiliated member of the House of Lords, was speaking in the wake of a report in The Sunday Times headlined: ‘Brexit bill on ice as hopes rise of EU deal’.

It quoted an unnamed senior government official as saying: “To give room to the negotiations we are not asking for the whips to bring it back to the Lords now. We want to give negotiations the best chance.

"We’ll let the team try the negotiations with Brussels first. If that doesn’t work, we’ll do the bill with the Lords.”

The Protocol Bill has been ambling its way through parliament since it was introduced to the Commons in July.

It is now awaiting its next stage in the House of Lords.

It aims to give the government the power to basically suspend bits of the Protocol, without the EU’s approval.

The EU has threatened to retaliate.

Last week, it said it plans to introduce “sanctions” in reaction to the UK “tabling legislation to take unilateral measures against an agreement we reached only two years ago”.

The bill however has faced opposition not just from Labour but from many Tories too, who worry it would amount to ripping up a binding international treaty, signalling a departure from the rule of law.

For its part, the government has been keen to stress it would prefer to see a negotiated solution with the EU.

Progress on the bill has been sluggish – so much so that when asked about the government putting it “on ice”, Baroness Foster said “it’s difficult to pause something that’s not happening anyway”.

But she went on to add of The Sunday Times report: "Unfortunately it confirms my fears about Rishi Sunak – that the Union is not a priority for him. I regret that’s the case.

"I’m not naive enough to look at what’s happening in the country and think there’s not a whole range of priorities: not least the cost-of-living, war in Ukraine, inflation.

"But this should have been dealt with in an effective way long before now.”

Baroness Foster added that “there isn’t one unionist representative” who approves of the Protocol, and the UK and EU are well aware that the DUP will not re-enter government unless there is some movement on it.

Passing the Protocol Bill would be seen as a “sign of good faith” that could “unlock devolution” she said, adding that, in the meantime: “There’s all this noise from the Secretary of State, pointing the finger and that sort of thing.

"He knows what the fundamental problem is. And yet there doesn’t seem to be any urgency in dealing with it.”

As to her own party’s dealings over the Protocol while she was at the helm, she said “we tried to warn the Prime Minister about what he was doing… I can’t take responsibility for what the Prime Minister of the day agrees with the EU”.