Northern Ireland Protocol: Sir Jeffrey Donaldson appeals to MPs ahead of bill’s final Commons debate

The DUP leader urged even those who had previously supported the protocol not to “blindly reject” the legislation and judge it only by what it can achieve in terms of getting rid of the Irish Sea border.

The party also said that regardless of who is the next prime minister they must recognised the protocol is flawed and proceed with the bill to change it unamended in Parliament.

Speaking after the Commons again debated the Bill yesterday, Sir Jeffrey pointed out that by the end of its third, committee stage the legislation will have undergone 18 hours of interrogation and debate.

“Throughout that process however there have been repeated attempts to undermine what is the core objective of the bill and that is to remove trade barriers within the United Kingdom, in accordance with our rights under Article 6 of the Acts of Union,” he said.

Sir Jeffrey continued: “Those who supported the protocol shouldn’t just blindly reject the bill because of who has brought it forward or the process of its development. They should judge the details of the bill and what it can achieve.

“For unionists, the protocol goes to the heart of our identity and our relationship with the rest of the United Kingdom. Imposing checks on goods destined to remain within the UK internal market impacts on our constitutional position, as indicated by the High Court and the Court of Appeal.

“Removing those checks and accepting the right of the United Kingdom to regulate its own internal market is key to resolving the fundamental issues created by the protocol and it is on this outcome that unionists should retain their focus.

“Even in this most recent stage there have been further attempts to tie the UK’s hands in this regard and give the EU a veto over regulation of our own internal market. This is unacceptable and Northern Ireland’s place in the UK must be respected and restored.“

He said there were some in the Commons who act like “when it seems that there is a problem, then their only acceptable outcome is to hand control to the European Union and blindly follow their way entirely”.

There has been growing concern among DUP MPs, unionist peers and among pro-Union Conservative MPs about the recent traction gained in the Tory leadership contest by Penny Mordaunt. Her supporters were quoted in the Sunday Times at the weekend saying that she wants to go soft on the EU as opposed to Liz Truss’ harder stance in promoting the Protocol Bill, which will give a new prime minister and their Cabinet powers to override those elements of the post-Brexit agreement that unionists regard as threatening NI’s place within the Union.

Ms Mordaunt’s supporters were reported to have said she wanted to “tone down” divisions with the EU and “take the heat” out of the tense relations with Brussels by agreeing to keep an Irish Sea border between GB and NI.

On the Tory leadership battle, a DUP spokesperson said: “For Northern Ireland, regardless of who the next prime minister is, they must recognise that the protocol is flawed, proceed with the NI Protocol Bill unamended and restore Northern Ireland’s place within the United Kingdom.”

But loyalist activist and blogger Jamie Bryson said last night that even if the bill reaches the stage of Royal Assent it will still not be enough to restore power-sharing.

“That is because upon Royal Assent, the provisions do not in fact take effect until they are brought into force by a commencement order made by a minister of the Crown. In theory therefore, the provisions may in fact never be brought into force,” he explained.

Mr Bryson added: “In addition, once the powers are brought into force, then they must be utilised in order to remove the protocol and put in place new arrangements to protect the UK internal market. On top of that, the making of regulations could still, in theory, be made in a manner that again conflict with the Act of Union.“

SDLP MLA Matthew O’Toole said that at a time of falling pay among key public sector workers the DUP were guilty of a “dearth of political responsibility” for refusing to run the Stormont institutions as part of their boycott strategy.