UK ‘pandering to EU’ over Northern Ireland Protocol

The UK should stop “pandering” to the European Union Jim Allister has said, after a joint UK/EU statement announced a resolution to their data-sharing problems.
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The TUV leader was responding to the reported breakthrough on issues related to data-sharing and EU access to IT systems in the UK.

Following a meeting in London, involving Foreign Secretary James Cleverly and European Commission vice-president Maros Sefcovic, the statement said: "They noted this work was a critical prerequisite to building trust and providing assurance, and provided a new basis for EU-UK discussions."

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However, Mr Allister said it “means more EU, not less,” and added: “It is indicative that the present talks are about better implementation of the protocol only and that the EU position of no change to its text is being pandered to.”

European Commission vice president Maros SefcovicEuropean Commission vice president Maros Sefcovic
European Commission vice president Maros Sefcovic

The upbeat statement from the EU and UK comes ahead of NI Secretary Chris Heaton-Harris’s round table talks with the parties at Stormont on Wednesday – aimed at restoring the powersharing executive before the deadline for calling an assembly election is reached.

Meanwhile, a new think-tank has published a report calling for Westminster to pass a law to bar devolved governments from acting in contravention of the Acts of Union.