Unionists divided over Nigel Farage's ECHR comments - as Reform UK boss says NI 'not at forefront' of party’s plans
Nigel Farage’s call for the UK to leave the European Convention on Human Rights as part of his plans to tackle the illegal immigration crisis has prompted a mixed reaction from unionist politicians.
The Reform leader has also said Northern Ireland would not leave immediately with the rest of the UK, as it would require a renegotiation of the Belfast Agreement – and that the province will “not be at the forefront” of his party’s plans.
Mr Farage’s plan to treat Northern Ireland differently have been rejected by DUP and TUV politicians supportive of withdrawal.
However, an Ulster Unionist Party MLA has warned that leaving the convention (ECHR) is “reckless” and a “gift” to nationalists.
Steve Aiken says unionists should treat Mr Farage “and his cohort with more than caution” – saying his proposals about “renovating the Belfast Agreement are both absurd and place the Union in danger”.
DUP MP Sammy Wilson has backed ECHR withdrawal on a UK-wide basis, saying it is “essential”. But he has questioned the ability of Mr Farage to deliver on his aims because of how embedded European human rights laws are in the UK – and the opposition he will face “from within the establishment”.
With regard to the 1998 agreement, the East Antrim MP said: “I don’t think he understands what the issue is. There shouldn’t be any problem. If he decides to leave the EHRC than Northern Ireland can leave at the same time, and he simply ignores that part of the Agreement”.
Mr Wilson said that is what the last government had done in relation to the Windsor Framework, by ignoring the principle of consent and of no constitutional change without cross-community support.
The TUV leader also says withdrawal from the ECHR is “essential” to restore UK sovereignty and constitutional integrity. In a thinly veiled rebuttal of the Reform leader’s comments on Northern Ireland being treated differently, Jim Allister says it must be “a UK wide exercise” to avoid “the constitutional absurdity” of differing rights across the country.
The North Antrim MP, whose party is in an electoral pact with Reform UK, says UK withdrawal from the convention “must dismantle the legal asymmetry embedded by the Belfast Agreement and Article 2 of the Protocol”.
He added: “Moreover, it is erroneous to believe that ECHR membership is a requirement of the Belfast Agreement. The assumption from the time by those who made the British-Irish Agreement (or the Belfast Agreement annexed to it) was that both countries would remain in the EU and as signatories of the ECHR. But that assumption did not prevent the UK from leaving the EU, nor does it prevent us leaving the ECHR”.
South Antrim MLA Steve Aiken told the News Letter: “It is clear there is a problem with illegal migration, and our current (and previous) governments have completely failed to curtail the influx.
“However, Farage’s remarks about renovating the Belfast Agreement are both absurd and place the Union in danger. The ECHR was the result of British action to restore justice and judicial process to post-war Europe, and in that, it has largely succeeded.
“That the UK Government has failed to make its case on illegal migration, unlike many European countries that have, says more about the quality of our crop of Barrister/political class, than the process.
“Reopening the Belfast Agreement to renegotiation with an increasingly United Ireland bound Irish Government is beyond reckless - it’s a gift to every ‘New Irelander’ there is. Farage is on record as believing in the inevitability of a United Ireland, to get his way he will have no compulsion about throwing 1m Unionists here under the proverbial – or indeed 3m Unionists in Scotland either – to succeed in his ‘New Right England’ plan.
“Any Unionist should threat Farage and his cohort with more than caution. The problem with illegal migration must be tackled, but actually using, effectively the legislation we have, must be the starting point”.
Northern Ireland Secretary Hilary Benn said the fact that Nigel Farage was talking “flippantly about trying to remove one of the pillars” of the Belfast Agreement “shows that he hasn't got the faintest idea about the consequences”.
“To jeopardise the Good Friday Agreement would not only be dangerously irresponsible, but would also disrespect all those who helped to bring about the peace that the people of Northern Ireland now enjoy”, the Labour minister said.