Sharp DUP divisions over EU goods red lane - as Sir Jeffrey says all his MPs backed the system

Stormont is now expected to be recalled on Saturday – and ministerial posts filled.

Some of the party’s MPs questioned the red lane arrangements under the recent deal – but the party leader said every one of his MPs voted for those provisions.

The deal secured between the DUP and the government means no routine checks on the renamed green lane – and the government claims that around 80% of the trade entering Northern Ireland will now use that UK internal market system.

Both the party leadership and the government were unequivocal in their support for both the existence of – and the principle behind – a red lane for goods entering Northern Ireland from Great Britain.

Speaking to the BBC yesterday, deputy leader Gavin Robinson said: “We accepted many years ago that it would not be appropriate, nor would it be feasible or possible, to have border check posts along a 300 mile border on the island of Ireland between Northern Ireland and the Republic.

"We’ve accepted that. But there will be infrastructure to manage those goods that are coming through NI and into RoI, the EU and the single market – of which we are not a part. That is accepted. That is a matter of fact”.

Sir Jeffrey Donaldson said there was no need for a green lane, adding: “There is only a need for one lane. And that is the lane that deals with goods flowing through our Northern Ireland ports and onwards to the European Union or deemed at risk of entering the European Union”.

Looking towards his colleague Sammy Wilson, Sir Jeffrey said “The red lane was endorsed by my party. The red lane was supported by my party. And every one of my MPs voted for that proposal. And that was my mandate. And it is what I secured. And that removes the Irish Sea border within our internal market of the United Kingdom.

"And it means that the only checks that we need to carry out are those on goods moving into or at risk of going into the European Union. That is what we stated when we set out our response to the Windsor Framework – endorsed unanimously by all of our party officers. All of them endorsed our response to that Framework”.

He said he had gone further than the party’s agreed response to the Windsor Framework by removing the green lane from the new arrangements.

Sammy Wilson told MPs “it is well known that I don’t support the deal. I have given reasons why not”.

The East Antrim MP said that legislation giving the EU the final say is still in place and that much of the red lane goods going to NI might never be in the EU at all – including manufacturing.

NIO minister Steve Baker didn’t accept that and defended the principle of the red lane to protect the EU’s market.

He said the UK government “would have implemented the red lane even acting unilaterally out of respect for the legitimate interests of our friends and trading partners”.

In the upper house, Lord Dodds said that “many goods coming from Great Britain, British goods coming to Northern Ireland, especially in manufacturing, still need to go through full EU compliance checks and procedures”.

He said unionists are concerned that the Irish Sea border still exists.

In the Commons Sir Jeffrey Donaldson pointed out the move of four million goods movements out of the red lane, as part of changes to the text of the Framework announced earlier in the week.

Steve Baker said that NI is not in the EU single market and has the “absolute minimum of EU law” compatible with access to the EU market. He said that the government had put in place a red lane to protect the EU’s interests.

The DUP’s Paul Girvan said that for companies where 98% of their goods were for the UK – they would still have to use the red lane.

Carla Lockhart raised concerns with the government that legislation on Great Britain diverging from NI “allows a minister to go ahead anyway”.

The government confirmed that it does retain the ability to diverge from existing EU laws.