Checks on goods passing from GB to NI to end under new plan for Northern Ireland – UK politics live | Politics

MPs broadly backed the No 10/DUP deal to reform the way the Windsor framework operates, set out in a lengthy and complicated command paper when Chris Heaton-Harris, the Northern Ireland secretary, presented it in a statement to the House of Commons. If Downing Street was fearing a major backlash, it has not happened, and the restoration of power sharing at Stormont is still all set to happen very soon.

But there were concerns raised about the deal, by two groups of MPs.

At a meeting on Monday night Sir Jeffrey Donaldson, the DUP leader, secured backing for the deal from the party’s executive.

But he does not have unanimous support and in the Commons at least two of his eight MPs expressed concerns that the deal would not stop Northern Ireland being bound by EU law.

The most outspoken (as usual) was Sammy Wilson, who said:

When the Northern Ireland assembly sits, ministers and assembly members will be expected by law to adhere to and implement laws which are made in Brussels, which they had no say over and no ability to amend, and no ability to stop. This is a result of this spineless, weak-kneed, Brexit-betraying government, refusing to take on the EU and its interference in Northern Ireland.

And Carla Lockhart suggested there was more work to be done because Northern Ireland remained bound by EU single market rules, and the customs code still applied.

Several Tory Brexiters, like Priti Patel and Sir Jacob Rees-Mogg, raised a question also raised by Wilson: what will happen if, in future, the UK government does want to pass legislation diverging from EU law that might necessitate the reimposition of checks on goods going from Britain to Northern Ireland?

This is the key issue, and one that Boris Johnson was tweeting about earlier (see 11.33am), because for Brexiters it is an article of faith that the UK should diverge in this way.

Heaton-Harris replied several times using the same formula. He told

I can tell him absolutely that this agreed package of measures will not change the freedoms and powers we have secured through Brexit or through the Windsor framework. It will not reduce our ability to diverge nor our commitment to do so should it be in the interest of the United Kingdom.

This partially satisfied the Brexiters, although it sounded like a fudge, and Heaton-Harris never fully explained what would happen – under the procedure highlighted by Rees-Mogg (see 1.59am) – if the government did want to diverge in this way.

If the Conservatives were expecting to be in power for another five years, with the government diverging away merrily, this would be a problem, because the Brexiters would not be happy with the answer they got today.

But they don’t, and as a consequence – judging, at least, by what they were saying in the Commons – they don’t have the appetite for a big fight.

Richard Drax, a Tory Brexiter, says “whispering” from Sinn Féin about reunification has been unhelpful. Can the government say that will never happen?

Heaton-Harris says he has to be careful, because as secretary of state he is the person who would authorise a border poll. But he says that he expects Northern Ireland to remain part of the UK for the rest of his lifetime.

He says the Good Friday agreement says reunification would only happen with the consent of both communities.

Heaton-Harris is 56.

Sammy Wilson (DUP) asked if the UK government would still have the power to diverge from EU laws, and implement laws that would not apply to Northern Ireland.

Heaton-Harris says this package of laws will not reduce the UK’s ability to diverge, or the government’s “commitment to do so should it be in the interests of the United Kingdom”.

He says, if there is a possibility of a measure having a diverse impact on GB/NI trade, the government would have to publish a ministerial statement justifying this.

This is from PA Media on what the command paper says:

It commits to replacing the green lane, which currently requires a percentage of goods to be checked, with a “UK internal market system” that will govern the movement of goods that will remain within the UK.

The paper said that would ensure there would be “no checks when goods move within the UK internal market system save those conducted by UK authorities as part of a risk-based or intelligence-led approach to tackle criminality, abuse of the scheme, smuggling and disease risks”.

The paper adds: “This will ensure the smooth flow of goods that are moving within the UK internal market.”

The red lane for transporting goods from GB to NI and on into the EU single market will remain, but the command paper offers measures aimed at reducing the volume of trade required to use that red-tape heavy route.

The move to reduce post-Brexit checks on GB-NI trade would represent a change to the current EU/UK Windsor framework agreement and therefore would require Brussels approval. It is understood decisions on implementing the changes are expected to be examined within the existing EU/UK joint committee framework in the time ahead.

As well as moves to cut Brexit bureaucracy on Irish Sea trade, the command papers includes a series of measures aimed at providing assurances around Northern Ireland’s constitutional position within the United Kingdom.

Legislation will be tabled with the purpose of “affirming Northern Ireland’s constitutional status underpinned by, among other provisions, the Acts of Union.”

The paper said: “The legislation will affirm parliament’s sovereignty over all matters in Northern Ireland, and address the concern that Northern Ireland’s constitutional position in the union has been weakened by the creation of specific arrangements for trade in goods.”

The government has also pledged to amend domestic law, specifically section 7A of the European Union (Withdrawal) Act, to affirm the fact that new EU laws will not automatically apply in Northern Ireland, and must first be subject to democratic oversight by the Stormont assembly.

The oversight procedures already outlined in the Windsor framework include the so-called Stormont brake mechanism that enables 30 or more MLAs to flag a concern about a new EU law planned to come into effect in Northern Ireland. The government is obliged to assess whether those concerns meet a threshold that could then result in the UK vetoing the application of the law in the region.

The command paper also includes commitments to ensure Northern Ireland goods will always be able to be sold in the GB market regardless of any divergence in EU and UK standards.

In respect of further UK divergence from EU standards, there is also a legal requirement that new legislation is assessed as to whether it “impacts on trade between Northern Ireland and Great Britain”.

If it does there will be a statutory duty for the relevant minister to make a statement “considering any impacts on the operation of Northern Ireland’s place in the UK’s internal market”.

A requirement that saw certain goods sold in Northern Ireland to display a label stating “not for sale in the EU” will now to extend to cover the whole UK.

The government is also creating two new bodies. An UK east-west council will bring together representatives from government, business and the education sector from Northern Ireland and Great Britain to “identify opportunities for deepening connections between Northern Ireland and the rest of the UK in areas such as trade, transport, education and culture”.

Intertrade UK will promote trade within the UK. Among its roles will be to proactively communicate with businesses that currently choose not to sell products in Northern Ireland and identify solutions that could enable them to expand their services to the region.

Chris Heaton-Harris, the Northern Ireland secretary, has just finished making his statement to MPs about the deal with the DUP.

The details are set out in an 80-page command paper just published by the government.

Rishi Sunak must be getting used to floundering at PMQs on the cost of living crisis, but today he was even weaker than usual. This probably won’t be remembered as a classic exchange, but it was one that Keir Starmer won comfortably by deploying three familiar tactics.

First, Starmer started with a joke that was funny enough to be disarming, but sharp enough to make a political point. He referred to this story about the Tory MP George Freeman.

One of the most difficult experiences of any member of this house is speaking to those at the sharp end of this government’s cost-of-living crisis. So nobody could fail to be moved by the plight of [Freeman].

His mortgage has gone up £1,200 a month, he’s been forced to quit his dream job to pay for it. A Tory MP counting the cost of Tory chaos. After 14 years, have we finally discovered what they meant when they said ‘we’re all in this together’?

Starmer then hammered away on the cost of living for the rest of the session. He repeatedly challenged Sunak to say how much the average cost of a mortgage was going up for someone coming off a fixed rate deal, and he deployed the “real person” card, asking Sunak to say how he would explain himself to Phil, an employee he met at Iceland, facing a £1,000-a- month rise in his mortgage.

There is not really a particularly good answer a PM can give in response to a question like this. For the election, the Tories have settled on the argument that they are committed to bringing down taxes, while Labour would put them up (even though they say they won’t). In the circumstances this is probably the best messaging available, and it is understandable why Sunak has chosen to stick with it.

But Labour’s decision to support the national insurance cut that came into force this week has made it harder for the Tories to deploy this line and so now, unable to attack Labour for opposing tax cuts, they are having a go at Labour for not actually adoring them. This was the theme a CCHQ press release on Monday criticising Rachel Reeves, the shadow chancellor, for describing the tax cuts as being part of a “scorched earth” policy and it was a line deployed by Sunak today. It is not a compelling one; fiscal thought crime is not a terrible offence, particularly when the IMF agree with you.

There were two other aspects of Sunak’s performance that made things worse. First, on mortgage costs, he argued:

Someone on a typical mortgage of about £140,000 with 17 years left is currently paying around £800. As a result of the ability to extend their mortgage term or switch to a six-month interest-only mortgage they will be able to save hundreds of pounds.

This is not much consolation to Phil, or anyone else, because anyone using these options won’t be saving money at all; they will just be delaying repayments.

And, second, Sunak referred to Phil from Iceland in a way that sounded patronising. Almost certainly, this was not what Sunak intended. But it is how it came across, and that’s gruesome.

Starmer has repeatedly argued that Sunak is too out of touch to be a successful PM. Today’s PMQs made this charge ever more compelling, and this helps to explain why, according to Ipsos polling published yesterday, Starmer is opening up an ever bigger lead on best PM.

The government has published what it calls a command paper effectively setting out details of the deal aimed at restoring power sharing at Stormont.

The paper, which you can read here, includes a commitment to removing the post-Brexit green lane for checking goods shipped from Great Britain to final destinations in Northern Ireland.

No 10 says that the deal with the Democratic Unionist party contains “significant” changes to the Windsor framework’s operation.

The PM’s official spokesperson said:

This is our negotiation between the UK and the DUP, this is not about altering the fundamentals of the Windsor framework.

We do believe the changes we are implementing are significant and the DUP have made similar comments.

Pressed on the “significant” changes, he said that they were to the “operation of the framework”.

He declined to say whether talks have been held with the EU, saying he would not discuss “private conversations”.

He added:

It’s important to make clear that this was a negotiation between the UK and the DUP about ensuring the framework operates properly within the UK.

Michael Ellis (Con) asks if the PM agrees that any recognition of a Palestinian state can only come about as a result of negotiations between Israel and Palestine.

Sunak says recognition of Palestine would have to be part of a process. He suggests that many steps would have to come first, and he says the UK stands with Israel.

That sounded like a mild rebuke to David Cameron. Neither Ellis nor Sunak mentioned Cameron, and Cameron’s speech on this earlier this week did not explicitly contradict what Sunak was saying today. But Cameron was floating the idea of bringing forward the moment when the UK might recognise a Palestinian state – while Sunak seemed to be kicking the prospect back into the long grass.