Ulster Unionist Peer Lord Empey has warned the Government that in its efforts to limit the damage caused by the regulatory border in the Irish Sea, they must take great care not to set precedents that further unpick the key issues of sovereignty and the Constitution.

Lord Empey said:

“The Internal Markets bill illustrates how our constitution has been evolving in a haphazard way over the past two decades with ill thought out lurches into various forms of devolution without a comprehensive plan to co-ordinate them. We have succeeded in falling out with the devolved Administrations and have the consent of none.   

“This was never more evident than in the utter foolishness of the 2 October 2019 in the form of the UK Government’s amended protocol on Northern Ireland, entitled ‘Explanatory Note’ which proposed to establish a regulatory border in the Irish Sea with border control posts and the continuing involvement of the European Court in Northern Ireland. How on earth is this compatible with Unionism? And why did Arlene Foster describe it at the time as ‘a serious and sensible way forward’ opening the floodgates for Brussels and Dublin to take full advantage and drive a coach and horses through the Belfast Agreement  - not least the principle of consent - in the process. And all for trade flows across a land border that accounts for 1.6% of the Republic’s total imports.     

“It now appears that the Government has finally woken up to the same warnings that they ignored last year but in their eagerness to try to limit the damage they need to take great care not to make matters worse. Once you start to break protocols – even ones that you should never have entered into in the first place – you risk setting a very dangerous precedent indeed. If you have no coherent plan as to how to work with the devolved regions and no fixed anchors, then you can very soon find yourself in some very uncomfortable positions indeed with regard to not only the Belfast Agreement, but also the likes of Scotland and Gibraltar.”