Windsor Framework: SDLP leader Colum Eastwood says party will vote for Stormont Brake in House of Commons today despite 'serious concerns'

Yesterday Colum Eastwood criticised the concept of the so-called brake, saying the idea that “a devolved Assembly or 30 members of it would be setting EU regulations is just bonkers”.

He said his party had not yet decided whether to support it or abstain in the Commons vote on the matter today.

A component of the Windsor Framework, the brake is intended to allow the NI Assembly a say in whether any new EU legislation will apply to it. NI remains in the EU customs union in the wake of Brexit, as agreed by the UK and EU under the Northern Ireland Protocol.

But after severe criticism of the brake yesterday, the SDLP said today it will support the measure in the Commons, which the party said is to be presented as “a vote on the overall Windsor Framework package”.

In a statement, the party has raised “serious concerns about elements of the deal and the impact it may have on the investment prospectus” provided by unique access to the EU single market and the UK internal market.

The SDLP said it has decided, however, that “the balance of the deal which creates a clear path toward the restoration of devolution” should be supported in the interests of people, communities and businesses in Northern Ireland.

Speaking ahead of a vote this afternoon, Mr Eastwood said: “The SDLP has taken time to consider the terms of the Windsor Framework, the balance it strikes between Assembly scrutiny and the potential for abusive veto, but more importantly the impact of the new arrangements on the unique economic benefits offered by dual market access.

“We continue to have serious concerns about the operation of the Stormont Brake and we will be vigilant about its implementation, including the clear limits on the operation of a veto over amended internal market law.

“But overall the Windsor Framework provides a clear path back to devolved government in Northern Ireland. With cuts to our schools and youth services, hospital waiting lists out of control, GP surgeries closing across the North and public sector workers desperately in need of a pay rise, there are more important priorities that we must address.

"The question now is not whether the DUP has got enough out of this deal – it’s whether people in every town and city in Northern Ireland have had enough of division and deadlock.

“We now have a unique investment proposition for people in Northern Ireland but it first requires an investment of political courage.”

Yesterday Party leader Colum Eastwood said that his party has not decided whether or not they will vote in favour of the Stormont brake.

“We’ll either vote for it or abstain, we’ll make that decision today,” he told BBC Radio Ulster.

Mr Eastwood also addressed concerns raised by members of his own party about the democratic deficit created by the Windsor Framework.

“The best way to fix the democratic deficit is going back into the European Union,” he said.

“But the idea that a devolved Assembly or 30 members of it would be setting EU regulations is just bonkers, frankly, and anybody who thinks otherwise, I don’t know what planet they’re living on.”