No solution to Protocol through EU negotiations, insists Dodds

There is little prospect of a solution to unionists' concerns about the Northern Ireland Protocol through negotiations with the EU, a DUP peer has insisted.

Lord Dodds said this would be the case unless the EU changes its negotiating mandate.

DUP leader Sir Jeffrey Donaldson, meanwhile, has reiterated his party’s stance that Stormont won’t be restored until the Protocol has been dealt with.

Both men were speaking after the Northern Ireland Protocol Bill cleared the latest hurdle in Parliament.

The Bill, which would allow the government to effectively rip up parts of the post-Brexit trading arrangements, completed its committee stage in the House of Lords after peers spent four days debating amendments.

In a statement, Lord Dodds said: “"There are only two ways in which the problem can be solved. That is either through legislation, or by a negotiated outcome with the European Union. Those who say the Protocol Bill should be paused or set aside should consider the impact that has on Northern Ireland and the political institutions. Whilst the EU’s negotiating mandate remains unchanged, there would seem to be little prospect of a positive outcome to the discussions and therefore little prospect of a solution via that route."

He continued: "There can be no settlement of this issue which fails to restore power to local politicians to make laws in the areas currently handed over to Brussels. And any outcome must match up, at the very least, to the government’s own analysis of the Protocol’s defects set out in the Government Command Paper of July 2021 and the contents of the Protocol bill currently going through Parliament. It means change to the Protocol itself not tinkering to make it work better as so far suggested by the EU.

"To those who oppose the Bill, I say turn your focus to the European Union and ask when its negotiating mandate will be changed to create a realistic prospect of progress via that route.”Sir Jeffrey, meanwhile, told the UK-EU Inter-Parliamentary Partnership Assembly in Westminster: “The Belfast Agreement institutions will only be restored when the Protocol is replaced with arrangements that unionists can support. Sustainable progress is only made when agreements are reached which can command support from both communities. Not one unionist MLA or MP supports the Northern Ireland Protocol.”