Northern Ireland protocol: Legislative solution needed, says PM

Stormont's political parties have criticised the prime minister after a series of "robust" meetings on Monday.

Boris Johnson was at Hillsborough Castle to encourage the parties to re-form Northern Ireland's institutions after the assembly election.

The Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) has withheld its support until the government takes "decisive action" on post-Brexit trade arrangements.

Mr Johnson said a "legislative solution" was needed.

Unionist politicians have protested against the Northern Ireland Protocol, a part of the UK-EU Brexit deal which keeps Northern Ireland aligned with the EU single market for goods.

This ensured free trade could continue across the Irish land border, but it has introduced some new checks on goods moving between Great Britain and Northern Ireland.

The assembly election on 5 May cemented a majority for those who accept the protocol,

A majority of politicians elected in the NI Assembly election on 5 May - including those of the new largest party, Sinn Féin - accept the protocol, but it is opposed by unionist politicians.

Foreign Secretary Liz Truss is expected to make a statement on the government's plans to act on the protocol on Tuesday, with the government poised to introduce legislation that could override parts of the Brexit deal.

"We would love this to be done in a consensual way with our friends and partners, ironing out the problems, stopping some of these barriers east-west," Mr Johnson said about the protocol after meeting Stormont's five main parties.

"But to get that done, to have the insurance we need, we need to proceed with a legislative solution at the same time.

"We don't want to scrap it (the protocol), but we think it can be fixed."

Sinn Féin President Mary Lou McDonald, whose party delegation was the first to meet the prime minister, accused Mr Johnson of unacceptable and obstructionist tactics in relation to the protocol.

She said the government was placating the DUP and that Mr Johnson gave "no straight answers" during a "very tough meeting" at Hillsborough Castle in County Down.

"The British government is in a game of brinkmanship with the European institutions, indulging a section of political unionism which believes it can frustrate and hold society to ransom," she said.

Following his party's meeting, DUP leader Sir Jeffrey Donaldson said he did not have details of the government's proposals for dealing with the protocol, but that he would judge Mr Johnson's plan by actions, not words.

On the return of Northern Ireland's political institutions, he said: "We cannot have power-sharing unless there is a consensus. That consensus doesn't exist."

When asked if he had appealed to the DUP to return to Stormont, the prime minister replied: "You bet, I said to the DUP in particular we want to see you back in the executive, we want to see you nominating, we want to see a Speaker in the assembly."

Mr Johnson was booed and jeered by about 200 people as his cavalcade arrived at Hillsborough.

Among them were campaigners for Irish language legislation, anti-Brexit activists and victims' campaigners objecting to the government's proposed legislation for dealing with legacy cases from the Troubles.

The DUP, which supported Brexit, has argued the protocol has eroded the foundations devolution was built on and undermined Northern Ireland's position in the UK.

Despite signing up to the deal himself, Mr Johnson agreed changes were needed.

Writing in the Belfast Telegraph, the prime minister said the protocol was out of date and did not reflect the reality of a post-Covid era with a European war and a cost of living crisis.

He added that he was open to dialogue but warned the UK would have to act if the EU did not change its position.

On Monday, Ireland's foreign affairs minister, Simon Coveney, said there were solutions to "many of the issues that are being raised particularly from the unionists and the business communities" about the protocol.

"This is not a time for unilateral action, announcing legislation which would essentially breach international law, undermine an international treaty and create a lot of unnecessary tensions between Brussels and London," he added.

US Congressman Bill Keating, chair of the House sub-committee on Europe, said the government's action on the protocol had been "a grave concern" in the US and it "undercuts the Good Friday Agreement".

"You don't get round international agreements you were party to… by undercutting it with domestic unilateral legislation," he told BBC Radio 4's The World Tonight.

Read more: A simple guide to the Brexit border problem

A senior UK government source said that barring any last minute changes, the government would introduce the legislation to strip away parts of the protocol to enable easier trade.

Such legislation would have to go through parliament however, which could take months.

Some fear that should the UK act unilaterally, it could spark retaliation from European countries and ultimately a trade war - the last thing many businesses and households want at the time of a cost of living crisis.

The EU has acknowledged the protocol has caused difficulties for Northern Ireland businesses. In October, it put forward proposals which, it said, would cut paperwork and checks on goods entering NI from Great Britain.

However, the UK rejected these plans last week saying they would make things worse.

Sinn Féin vice-president Michelle O'Neill also met the Taoiseach (Irish prime minister) Micheál Martin on Monday.

Her party won the most seats in May's historic election but cannot take up that power-sharing role without the DUP agreeing to enter government in Northern Ireland.

After meeting Boris Johnson, Ms McDonald said he had indicated there were plans "to fix rather than scrap the protocol".

Mr Donaldson said he had waited "a long time for this moment" for government proposals and said the EU had harmed the Good Friday Agreement by not respecting Northern Ireland's place in the UK.

Alliance Party deputy leader Stephen Farry said his meeting with Mr Johnson had been a frustrating engagement with "robust exchanges".

"We've seen a lot of soft words from the prime minister, an attempt at some sort of consensual way forward, but those words belie the fact that tomorrow Liz Truss is set to make a statement to parliament setting out the basis of the UK taking unilateral action on the protocol," he said.

Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) leader Doug Beattie said the prime minister had "made it clear" to him that he intended to bring forward legislation to deal with protocol concerns.

"The protocol really does need to be dealt with so we can move forward," he said.

Mr Beattie said the assembly and executive should be restored if the government signalled in the next week that it would bring forward measures.

The Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP) leader Colum Eastwood said his meeting with Mr Johnson had also been "robust".

"If the British government tomorrow signal their intent to break international law by legislating to rip up the protocol at Westminster he will not have the support of the vast majority of people in Northern Ireland," Mr Eastwood said.

The UK government and unionist parties have made the case that the protocol is damaging the Northern Ireland economy but the evidence for that is inconclusive.

A free market think-tank has repeated the claim the protocol is costing £850m a year.

The report by the Institute of Economic Affairs (IEA) is based on a previous estimate by the Ulster University economist Esmond Birnie.

That research has previously been used by the DUP to bolster its case against the protocol but the research used a limited dataset and then added the cost of what the UK government is spending on mitigation measures.

Last week, the National Institute of Economic and Social Research suggested Northern Ireland's economy has slightly outperformed the UK average, partially due to the protocol.

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