UK moves closer to taking unilateral action over the NI Protocol 

Taoiseach Micheál Martin has claimed the UK Government has moved “too far in a unilateral way on issues” in response to UK Foreign Secretary Liz Truss’ statement that the UK Government would propose a new law to unilaterally change key aspects of the post-Brexit Northern Ireland Protocol. 

The mooted bill, which the UK Government is set to publish in the coming weeks, aims to remove the regulatory barriers to goods made to UK standards being sold in Northern Ireland. According to Ms. Truss, it would introduce a new dual regulatory regime, which would allow businesses to choose between meeting UK or EU standards for their products. The bill would also see the UK have full control over tax and spending in Northern Ireland.  

In response to Truss’s proposals, Jeffery Donaldson, leader of the DUP described it as “a good start,” but not enough for the DUP to return to Stormont. 

Speaking on BBC Radio Ulster on Friday, the Taoiseach stated that it was unacceptable for the DUP to hold up the executive over the protocol. “Most people would agree that in the democratic world when people vote for their representatives and vote for a parliament the first thing that should happen is that parliament should convene,” he said.

Sinn Féin President Mary-Lou McDonald described the UK government’s actions as that of a “rogue state,” while Tánaiste Leo Varadkar stated that “the fact that the UK Government is talking openly about breaching international law is a matter of concern.”

Maroš Šefčovič, Vice-President of the European Commission, responded that “should the UK decide to move ahead with a bill disapplying constitutive elements of the protocol…the EU will need to respond with all measures at its disposal” raising the spectre of an EU-UK trade war in the not too distant future. 

Meanwhile, the speaker of the US House of Representatives, Nancy Pelosi, weighed in, describing Britain’s intended moves to discard the Northern Ireland Protocol as “deeply concerning”.

In a tweet, speaker Pelosi outlined that “the Good Friday Accords are the bedrock of peace in Northern Ireland and a beacon of hope for the world. Ensuring there is no physical border between the Irish Republic and Northern Ireland is necessary for upholding this landmark agreement, which transformed Northern Ireland.” 

Moreover, in a blow to any post-Brexit US-UK Trade deal ambition, Pelosi also said that “if the United Kingdom chooses to undermine the Good Friday Accords, the Congress cannot and will not support a bilateral free trade agreement with the United Kingdom.”