Wilson: Tories should learn from failed Labour attempt to interfere with free movement inside the UK - and scrap Rwanda plans

In 2009 the Labour government was forced to scrap parts of its immigration legislation after concerns it would impede free travel within the UK.

Labour had proposed changes to how the Common Travel Area (CTA) operated so that it could tighten the UK’s immigration system to reduce asylum claims.

The CTA allows free movement across the British Isles and has operated for decades. The Republic of Ireland does impose ID checks on air routes and on some land and sea crossings. But there are no passport checks within the UK.

Sammy Wilson says the Windsor Framework makes the current situation worse than the one faced by the Labour government in 2009. He said: “If it was identified as a problem in 2009 – it’s more of a problem now. Because the laws which they’re going to pass to try and stop immigrants not being deported in GB cannot apply in Northern Ireland because – under the Belfast Agreement and Windsor Framework, we are subject to the European Court of Human Rights and the European Charter of Fundamental Rights (CHFR). The court has already decided that all of the rights under the CHFR can be used by people who are seeking to overturn any deportation orders.”

"They [the Labour government] dropped it because they did realise it was unworkable – and also the tightening of the laws didn’t go through either”, he said.

The East Antrim MP added: “The problem to be addressed is that Northern Ireland is subject to EU law, not British law”.

He said nobody can predict what other issues might occur in future when there is a clash between EU and British laws in Northern Ireland – and cases will always be decided in a European court, rather than a British one.

“The European Court of Justice will be the final adjudicator as to whether or not we’re complying with the terms of the Protocol and the Windsor Framework", Mr Wilson said.