SNP boss Nicola Sturgeon quits: What were her views on the Northern Ireland Protocol?

The News Letter is revisiting her views on the subject after Ms Sturgeon announced in a press conference this morning that she was quitting as both SNP chief and Scotland’s First Minister.

In an interview with Denis Staunton, published in the Irish Times in August 2021, Ms Sturgeon said she viewed the Protocol as a possible model to be emulated in the event Scotland left the UK.

Her comments came at a time when unionist politicians were voicing deep disquiet over the post-Brexit arrangements which had been imposed on the Province.

Scotland had voted 62% in favour of remaining in the EU in 2016, and Ms Sturgeon had wanted an independent Scotland to re-join the bloc.

She was quoted as saying in the Irish Times: “The Northern Ireland protocol, if there are easements there, yes, I think that does offer some template.

"But we work in a proper, planned way to make sure that any rules that have to be applied are applied in a way that absolutely minimises any practical difficulties for businesses trading across the England-Scotland border.

"But the benefit of doing that is that we again open up free trade across the whole of the European Union, the world's biggest single market.

"Brexit had all been about narrowing Scotland's horizons, in a trading sense but also in terms of people. Independence is about opening up those horizons again and seeing Scotland firmly as a country playing its full part in Europe and the world."

Attacking this stance on the floor of the Scottish Parliament last year, Lib Dem MSP Willie Rennie had said: “I’d love to be able to say that there is a good solution to the problems that have been caused to Northern Ireland by our exit from the EU, but there simply is not one.

"There are least-worst options. The Protocol may be the least-worst option, but it is hardly a model for success, which makes it all the more surprising that the First Minister holds it up as a template to aspire to.

"The chaos, the tension and the disruption make the protocol a model, according to Nicola Sturgeon.”

Ms Sturgeon had herself told the Scottish Parliament last year that either the triggering of Article 16 or the enactment of the Northern Ireland Protocol Bill (which seeks to give ministers the power to disapply the Protocol, but which it currently stuck in parliamentary limbo in London) “would be deeply irresponsible and would probably trigger severe trade and economic impacts for the whole UK, including Scotland”.

She went on to add: “In light of the serious implications of such action, we would certainly expect the Scottish Government to be involved in discussions in advance.

"However, despite our repeated requests, the UK Government has, to date, shown no willingness to engage on the issues.”

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