UK Government has taken no action on a landmark EU law vote - Jim Allister accuses it of 'defying' Stormont

The North Antrim MP says “another supposed Assembly protection is proving useless”. ​

Back in March, MLAs didn’t give the required cross-community support for a new law on the protection of geographical indications (GI) for craft and industrial products, in the first such vote under the new Windsor Framework arrangements.

Unionists effectively blocked the law by not giving their support – which had the backing of Sinn Fein, the SDLP and Alliance. The previous government played down any potential impact from the law – claiming that “few products” would be available in GB, but not NI, as a result.

The DUP used the vote to show unionist critics of its January deal to restore devolution that Stormont now had a greater say over the application of EU law in Northern Ireland.

DUP MLA Jonathan Buckley described the vote as a “significant moment” as it allowed Stormont to express its view – and warned the new EU law “would create a new regulatory border within the United Kingdom”.

The previous government said at the time that it “noted” the vote, and would follow the legal framework.

However, a question from the TUV MP Jim Allister has revealed that the government has still taken no action on the vote – six months on.

The North Antrim MP asked the Minister for the Cabinet Office “whether he has made a decision on the application of that regulation to Northern Ireland”.

The government said it “continues to evaluate the implications of Regulation 2023/2411, reflecting the applicability motion vote in the Northern Ireland Assembly and the conditions set out in Schedule 6B of the Northern Ireland Act 1998”.

Mr Allister told the News Letter: “Six months after the Assembly rejected this EU law by deployment of a mechanism proclaimed to protect NI from unwanted new EU law, the Govt has so far defied the Assembly’s call.

“Thus, it seems, another supposed Assembly protection is proving useless”.

Given the political significance and symbolism of the Stormont vote back in March, it is perhaps remarkable that no action has been taken by the government.

Critics of the Windsor Framework and the subsequent DUP Safeguarding the Union deal – such as Mr Allister – said that in reality it gave Stormont no say as the final call is left with the UK government.

The lack of action by the government will have the same effect as blocking it – as it still hasn’t been passed into UK law. But it may signal a reluctance by the UK government to confront the issue.

Recently, several key parts of the Windsor Framework have been stalled until next year or abandoned altogether – such as new rules on sending parcels from Great Britain to Northern Ireland, and the UK-wide labelling of food products to stop any disincentive to supermarkets and others selling in the province.

That could be a demonstration of how unworkable the arrangements are – or perhaps a sign that the government doesn’t want the full impact of the Irish Sea border to be felt before an upcoming vote on the arrangements at Stormont.

If unionist parties were antagonised further, it would not be helpful to either the UK or EU’s attempts to smoothly implement the deal in full.

The majority vote would likely still pass, however, as nationalists support the arrangements in principle. It may be a little more tricky for Alliance if businesses and consumers were being affected – but the party has repeatedly blamed Brexit and sought to avoid blocking any EU legislation.

When this particular law was rejected by the Assembly in March, former Alliance MLA and now MP Sorcha Eastwood claimed the Assembly was “discussing again what appears to be the internal DUP wrangling”.

The Lagan Valley MP dismissed unionist opposition saying “I don't want to be spending the next two-and-a-half to three years re-litigating Brexit”.

In the House of Lords this week, Lord Frost – whose government accepted the Protocol arrangements in order to conclude a deal with the EU – said that mutual enforcement was the only acceptable solution to the border problem.

That position is now endorsed by all the unionist parties at Westminster, who have backed a private members bill by the TUV MP Jim Allister to remove the Windsor Framework and replace it with arrangements which respect the territorial integrity of the United Kingdom.