Sea border consultation an attempt by government to 'draw out the poison' of abandoning cross-community consent

The government’s consultation on the future of the Windsor Framework is merely an attempt to “draw out the poison” left behind when it abandoned the foundational principle of the Belfast Agreement in pursuit of an all-Ireland economy, Jim Allister says.

The TUV leader’s comments come after his party submitted its view on the future of the Irish Sea border to the Murphy Review – set up in the wake of unionist rejection of the Protocol in a Stormont vote.

placeholder image — Jim Allister's party has told the government that the criteria for triggering an emergency clause in the Protocol has been met. Photo:Liam McBurney/PA Wire

It passed with support from nationalists and Alliance, despite no support from any elected unionist.

The TUV’s submission carries a warning from a leading Northern Ireland business that under the deal there would be “little or no” manufacturing in seven years in Northern Ireland – with local firms unable to compete on a national or global stage.

It also argues that the criteria for triggering Article 16 of the Protocol – a safeguard to stop trade divergence and societal difficulties – has been met.

The Independent Review of the Windsor Framework was commissioned by the Secretary of State Hilary Benn in January, following a vote on the continued application of articles 5 to 10 of the Windsor Framework in the Assembly last December. Submissions close on Saturday.

Mr Allister told the News Letter: “This consultation is taking place in an attempt to draw out the poison left because the Government gave into the EU and pulled the requirement for cross community consent, facilitating the first majority vote on a significant issue at Stormont in over fifty years last December.

“The bizarre thing is that the EU and UK Government have repeatedly told us that the Windsor Framework, which mandated the vote, is imperative to protect the Belfast Agreement. Yet the Windsor Framework has pulled one of its most foundational provisions, cross community consent, leaving the Agreement in tatters.

“They might try to minimise their actions by saying this was only one vote, but it was the most controversial vote in the 104 year history of Northern Ireland. It involved approving the transfer of 300 areas of law making to Dublin and the rest of the EU for four years.

“The intent is obvious – the creation of an all-Ireland economy, the essential prerequisite of the break-up of the UK and creation of an all-Ireland state. To get to that point, the people of Northern Ireland were disenfranchised from this huge area of law making process.

“Moreover, we have to remember that this is not one vote but effectively engages all the votes that will be made in the making of laws in the 300 areas over the next four years. Having dismissed the need for cross community consent in relation to the most controversial proposition to come before Stormont in 104 years, what possible basis can there be for saying we need cross community consent on less controversial votes?

“Rather than helping the Belfast Agreement, the actions of the EU have done more to place the Agreement in jeopardy than any other actor in the last 27 years”.

The North Antrim MP said there is now an urgent imperative to replace the Irish Sea Border with mutual enforcement. He says a bill he brought before Westminster on the matter “would provide a means of managing the border without placing cross community consent, and thereby the entire Northern Ireland political settlement, in jeopardy.”

The party also argues that the Windsor Framework constitutes an existential threat to Northern Ireland manufacturing, quoting a recent interview with Ashley Piggot, the CEO of AJ Power on GB News.

Mr Piggot told the broadcaster: “We are still subject to all these duties etc and with rising costs our competitive situation is deteriorating every day and in all honesty in seven years I think there will be little or no manufacturing in Northern Ireland”.

The TUV has also told the government review that the so-called democratic safeguards built into the Windsor Framework have “not addressed in a credible way” the democratic deficit caused by the Protocol. It says the deal has moved Northern Ireland “from a full to a partial democracy, imposing neo-colonialism, suspending a foundational part of the Acts of Union, destroying key aspects of the economic foundation of the UK and relieving the UK of essential state functions”.

The government has said it it committed to the full and faithful implementation of its deal with the EU.