Unionists alarmed at new legislation to impose EU 'border posts'

The Official Controls (Northern Ireland) Regulations 2023 allow officials at Whitehall to authorise the building of the border checkpoints that were supposed to have been put in place by Stormont’s department of agriculture.

Red and green lanes, for goods expected to be consumed in the Republic of Ireland or Northern Ireland respectively, will be established as laid out in the NI Protocol.

The TUV has said the copper fastening of the Irish Sea border is not acceptable.

“Where do you find ‘Green and Red lanes’? At a border, of course,” TUV spokeswoman Lorna Smyth said.

"So of themselves they confirm and solidify the Irish Sea border, as the UK needlessly takes on the role of policing the EU’s single market as Brussels’ surrogate, but with the additional infringement of EU staff operating on UK territory.

“Even the EU treaties are premised on the fact that it is for the EU’s frontier states to protect the EU’s single market. But, here it is being suggested that a non-EU member performs that role in its territory!”

DUP MP Sammy Wilson said the UK Government “needs to come clean about what its intentions on the Protocol” really are.

“The Minister for Levelling Up assured me that the government were working hard to finally deal with the destructive and divisive elements of the Protocol. Yesterday, the Foreign Secretary was giving the same assurances.

“Yet today, the DEFRA Minister has announced that the government are taking powers from the Northern Ireland Assembly to build an international border post within the UK. This will ensure that there is compliance with the Protocol and that unionists are unable to thwart such compliance.”

The East Antrim MP added: “One thing is clear, border posts will cement the Protocol in a very tangible way and give it a physical presence in Northern Ireland.

“The government must urgently explain why, despite claiming to be seeking the end of EU interference, it is complying with EU demands to place barriers between Northern Ireland and the rest of the UK.”

Meanwhile, DUP leader Sir Jeffrey Donaldson has claimed that the Irish premier has a “better understanding” of the difficulties the protocol has created for the province.

Following a meeting with Taoiseach Leo Varadkar in Belfast, Sir Jeffrey said: “We reiterated our seven tests as being the basis for judging any agreement as to whether it meets the requirements to respect Northern Ireland’s place within the UK internal market and to facilitate ongoing cross-border trade.

“That’s why an agreement that works for everyone has to be a way forward. We respect the fact that he is the Irish Prime Minister (taoiseach), head of the Irish government and we will work with whoever is in that office”.

Sir Jeffrey added: “I think we have a pragmatic relationship and I think that the taoiseach has a better understanding now of the difficulties that the protocol is creating for Northern Ireland.

“He said so himself, (he) recognises that mistakes have been made and what we are in the business of doing now is correcting those mistakes and getting a solution that works for Northern Ireland.”