NI public 'collateral damage' in Boris Johnson bid to re-enter Downing Street: Empey

​Lord Empey said Mr Johnson’s call for the NI Protocol Bill, which is stalled in the House of Lords, to go ahead, has come at a critical stage in the negotiations between the UK Government and the EU.

Prime Minister and Conservative leader Rishi Sunak was in Northern Ireland last week talking to political leaders as reports of an EU/UK protocol deal intensified.

Speculation has also been mounting that Mr Johnson has ambitions to regain the party leadership following his resignation in September last year.

Lord Empey said the Northern Ireland public are “being used again” but the former PM.

“Boris Johnson has intervened at a critical stage of the negotiations between HMG and the EU. He is saying that the NI Protocol Bill, which is stalled in the House of Lords, should go ahead,” he said.

“This is the same Boris Johnson who, in October 2019, proposed to the EU that there should be a border in the Irish Sea.

"In his 'Explanatory Note' of 2 October 2019, he said in paragraph 7a and 7b as follows: 'Northern Ireland would align with EU SPS (agri food) rules...’ and later… ‘Northern Ireland would align with all relevant EU rules relating to the placing on the market of manufactured goods.’

"He specifically mentions 'relevant EU law' which opens the door for the European Court. In para 9 of the same document, he proposes '… traders moving goods from Great Britain to Northern Ireland would need to notify the relevant authorities before entering Northern Ireland.'

"This establishes the Irish Sea Border.”

Lord Empey added: “Sadly, on the same day as this document was produced, the DUP described these proposals as ‘a serious and sensible way forward.’ They must have taken leave of their senses.“The truth is that Boris Johnson's intervention is all to do with the struggles within the Conservative Party and his campaign to get back into Downing Street. The people of Northern Ireland are once again collateral damage just as we were for his last campaign of 'getting Brexit done.'