Sir Keir Starmer: triggering Article 16 won’t resolve NI Protocol dispute

Sir Keir Starmer has insisted suspending parts of Northern Ireland’s Brexit deal will not resolve the dispute between the UK and EU.
By The Newsroom
Published 7th Nov 2021, 10:57 BST
Labour party leader Sir Keir Starmer wants to see both side 'sit down and resolve' the Northern Ireland Protocol. Photo credit: Andrew Matthews/PA WireLabour party leader Sir Keir Starmer wants to see both side 'sit down and resolve' the Northern Ireland Protocol. Photo credit: Andrew Matthews/PA Wire
Labour party leader Sir Keir Starmer wants to see both side 'sit down and resolve' the Northern Ireland Protocol. Photo credit: Andrew Matthews/PA Wire

Asked if he would support the Government if it triggers Article 16, the Labour leader told the BBC’s Andrew Marr Show: “I don’t think that triggering Article 16 will resolve the dispute in relation to the Protocol in Northern Ireland.

“That isn’t in the interests of the communities in Northern Ireland or businesses in Northern Ireland. What is in their interests is resolving the issues.

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“Because of the way the protocol was drafted, because of what the Prime Minister signed, it is perfectly true that there are checks from Great Britain to Northern Ireland – we want to reduce those.”

He added: “What I am saying is don’t rip up the protocol because that has that very important central purpose, which is to protect the no border in Northern Ireland.”

Sir Keir said he wants to see “both sides sitting down and resolving this”, adding: “There’s a little bit of me, Andrew, I am afraid that can’t help think that the Prime Minister is constantly trying to pick a fight on things like this so he hopes people don’t look elsewhere in the forest, which are things like the Owen Paterson affair.”

Sir Keir Starmer, asked if he was prepared to renegotiate the Brexit deal to mitigate the predicted impact on economic growth, replied: “I think we need to make Brexit work.

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“It’s all very well saying get Brexit done, we’ve got to make Brexit work.

“In order to do that, we have got to deal with some of the gaps and weaknesses in the current arrangements.”

The Labour leader said he would do “whatever I could to make it easier for British firms to trade across the world, but particularly with the EU”.

He went on: “What I’m not talking about is rejoining the EU, what I’m not talking about is ripping up the current agreement and starting again – nobody wants to be in that place.”

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Sir Keir said there are “sensible adjustments” can be made to improve the arrangement.

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Related topics:Keir StarmerPrime MinisterNorthern IrelandGovernmentNI Protocol