Tory rebel says the Windsor Framework is a 'very real problem' for PM Rishi Sunak's Rwanda Bill

The commitment by the UK government in the Windsor Framework to ensure certain EU rights are upheld in Northern Ireland could mean the plans aren’t fully operable in Northern Ireland – something the government denies.

David Jones MP – a former Welsh secretary – has told the News Letter there is “a problem because you can actually see lots of people using Northern Ireland as a route into the rest of the UK”.

He said the Windsor Framework’s effect on the Rwanda Bill and immigration is a “massive concern” for the ERG.

Mr Jones – the ERG deputy chair – said: “The view that we take is that Northern Ireland is increasingly going to be used as an access point. This is actually a wider concern because of the Common Travel Area”. He said a “far more sensible” approach to post-Brexit borders would have been that the UK and Ireland had a common border because of the particular circumstances here.

He added: "The Windsor Framework is basically one massive fudge. It has been proven ultimately not to work. It has been very much to the detriment of the entire UK and its constituent parts. We really do need to have something better in its place. Of course it’s not a permanent arrangement – allegedly – but we have to do something to get around it.”

He said he didn’t believe the Windsor Framework was merely a technical problem for the Rwanda Bill – rather “potentially a very real problem”.

Labour MP Stella Creasy has also tabled an amendment to guarantee that the bill is “compatible with Section 7A of the European Withdrawal Act and the UK’s obligations to citizens under the Good Friday Agreement”.

Over 30 Tory rebels are set to back the ERG amendment, which if passed could be used to override parts of the Windsor Framework. It would allow the Rwanda Bill to override “any other provision or rule of domestic law”. Under the Windsor Framework deal, certain EU rights are maintained in Northern Ireland under domestic UK legislation.

Concerns have been raised by some unionist politicians that as the bill currently stands – it could result in a ‘people border’ between Northern Ireland and Great Britain. This is because the framework keeps the Charter for Fundamental Rights and other EU legislation applicable in Northern Ireland – arguably making the bill weaker in the province – and NI more attractive to people seeking asylum in the UK.

DUP MP Sammy Wilson has previously warned that the government policy could replicate the Irish Sea border – but in relation to people. He believes if the issue is not handled carefully, it could result in checks on people travelling between NI and GB. Last month, the East Antrim MP said the Rwanda plans were “not thought through” – and “devised in a panic” by a government on its way out.

The European Union has previously told the News Letter that it expects the United Kingdom to fully honour its commitment to EU rights in Northern Ireland.

In December, a Brussels spokesperson told the News Letter that while they don’t comment on draft legislation: “Article 2 of Windsor Framework provides that the United Kingdom shall ensure that no diminution of rights, safeguards or equality of opportunity, as set out in that part of the 1998 Agreement entitled Rights, Safeguards and Equality of Opportunity, results from its withdrawal from the Union.

"The Windsor Framework is to be implemented in full, and in good faith – which includes the provisions on ‘Rights of individuals’ (Article 2) of the Windsor Framework”.

The UK government has said that the bill will apply in all parts of the United Kingdom – and denied that it would affect the Windsor Framework.

Anti-protocol campaigner Jamie Bryson, speaking on behalf of Unionist Voice Policy Studies , welcomed the proposal from the Tory rebels, saying: “This amendment would prevent reliance on the so called additional ‘rights’ conferred on NI which don’t apply in GB, due to the Protocol, and ensure NI is on the same footing as to immigration and asylum law as the rest of the United Kingdom.