Tom Elliott says a solution is needed for 'worthless' Stormont Brake

On Thursday, Stormont’s Windsor Framework democratic scrutiny committee was warned by an official that the consequence of using the so-called Stormont Brake could be ‘divergence or trivergence’ – leaving Northern Ireland isolated outside both EU and UK arrangements.

Mr Elliott has told the News Letter that the new term of ‘trivergence’ of policy between EU, GB and NI is unlikely to become a widely used phrase given that the difficulties associated with the Stormont Brake is unlikely to make the use of the process a regular occurrence.

The Fermanagh MLA said: “The briefing to the new Assembly EU Scrutiny Committee this week provided confirmation of my previous assessment of the Stormont Brake process that if the system is applied it will put Northern Ireland into a third regulatory position, with the EU having one regulation, GB having another and NI having a completely different one.

“As it stands this emergency stop button on EU directives and regulations is ‘beyond unworkable’ and I believe has been grossly mis-sold.

“I ask the UK government to clarify this situation and find a resolution that would result in the Stormont Brake not being worthless.”

The Ulster Unionist first raised concerns to the News Letter in January about the consequences of using the mechanism for the Northern Ireland economy.

The Stormont Brake was seen as a way of delivering a limited form of democratic input from Northern Ireland’s politicians into the post-Brexit trade arrangements set up under the protocol.

Unlike EU countries, NI has no formal say on drawing up the Brussels regulations which apply here.

Under the original NI Protocol - changes to EU rules on customs, goods and agriculture applied automatically in NI.

The brake – introduced under the Windsor Framework – was an attempt by the government to provide some say for Stormont politicians on whether certain individual EU laws should apply. It means that if 30 MLAs from at least two parties object to a particular EU rule the UK government could – in theory – permanently veto it.

But the evidence presented to the committee this week highlights that as a high-risk strategy, potentially leaving Northern Ireland isolated.