Unionists criticise government's Irish Sea border approach as it announces 'practical' measures for businesses

It comes as the Labour government accepted the recommendations of a review of the post-Brexit trade deal – prompted by the fact it failed to achieve cross-community consent in the Assembly last year.

Northern Ireland secretary Hilary Benn says London is “steadfastly committed to ensuring that Northern Ireland’s trading arrangements command the broadest possible support” – as he announced new practical support for businesses and a plan to promote “dual market access”.

However, all unionist parties say the government’s response isn’t enough to deal with the problems facing business.

The DUP leader says the arrangements will continue to harm Northern Ireland’s place in the UK. Gavin Robinson argues the Murphy Review was “too narrow and missed the opportunity to pursue the fundamental action needed” to restore the province’s constitutional position.

“The Government’s decision to accept the review in full whilst sensible will not deal with the fundamental problems created by the Windsor Framework. Throwing more money at the problem and giving MLAs more time to consider harmful EU laws after the fact cannot be a sustainable long-term plan for dealing with the border in the Irish Sea.

“Northern Ireland remains subject to rules made in Brussels whilst Great Britain does not. That is the legal reality, and without decisive action to address it, fundamental challenges will remain”, the East Belfast MP said.

Jim Allister says that spending another £5m each year “to enforce the partitioning Irish Sea border is no source of joy for business, nor unionists”.

“Like the Murphy Review itself, the Government response is shallow and of no meaningful impact.

“The Murphy Review was subject to a nationalist veto, as it was allowed only to recommend what would have cross-community support. Hence, it was never going to change the Union-dismantling fundamentals of the Protocol - despite those being renewed in December 2024 by the removal of the need for cross-community Assembly support”, the TUV leader said.

The Ulster Unionist Party’s Windsor Framework spokesperson warned that while the Government’s acceptance of Lord Murphy’s recommendations is a step forward it “falls far short of solving the problems created by the Irish Sea border”.

Steve Aiken MLA said it is “encouraging” that the government, Hilary Benn and “other ‘faithful implementors’ now acknowledge that the Windsor Framework is far from delivering the ‘best of both worlds’”. He said “significant mitigations will have to be put in place to minimise the impact of the Irish Sea Border”.

The South Antrim MLA added: “But to pretend that these sensible proposals fix the problem is naïve. Businesses and consumers are already facing real challenges, major retailers like Amazon increasingly refuse deliveries, and issues remain with veterinary medicines, new vehicles, parcel charges, and heightened HMRC scrutiny from 1 January. The so called ‘gift’ of the Windsor Framework feels more like the work of the grinch than Santa.”

Announcing the government’s official response to Lord Murphy’s review, Hilary Benn said: “The Government’s response to the outcome of the democratic consent motion does not mark the end of our response to the practical issues raised in the Northern Ireland Assembly or by stakeholders.

“We will now work diligently to put the commitments contained within this document into practice, just as we will continue to engage with our partners in the EU on issues of relevance to the Framework. The Government’s focus remains on ensuring that Northern Ireland’s trading arrangements are effective in accounting for its specific circumstances, and protecting its place in the UK whilst avoiding a hard border on the island of Ireland”.

The government has pledged to:

- Take forward £16.6 million in funding allocated at the Budget to deliver an enhanced ‘one stop shop’ advice service for small businesses and new funding for Intertrade UK, to boost trade within the UK;

- Champion Dual Market Access at home and abroad;

- Give the Assembly greater flexibility to scrutinise EU regulations within the statutory democratic scrutiny period;

- Improve engagement with a range of sectoral stakeholders and businesses as the Government implements the Framework;

- Explore and develop a scheme to support small businesses to trade with NI where they lack a local presence to satisfy product safety rules, and preparing improvements to the Duty Reimbursement Scheme; and

- Continuing work to smooth the flow of goods, including new measures to safeguard the supply of veterinary medicines from 1 January 2026 and to swiftly progress a future UK/EU SPS agreement.