Commenting on two Answers received from Ministers in response to Parliamentary Questions he tabled, Ulster Unionist Peer, Lord Empey said:

“I was angered by the responses I received to simple straight forward Parliamentary Questions. The responses demonstrate the degree to which the Government is in denial about what it has visited on Northern Ireland as a result of the Protocol agreed with the EU.

“When I used the term 'Border Inspection Posts' in my Question to the NIO, the answer came back as 'existing point of entry facilities!' The term Border Inspection Posts is a direct quote from the revised Protocol proposed by the Prime Minister to the EU on 2nd October 2019. Also, the NIO Answer confines itself to 'facilities for checking animals and agrifood products' whereas all manufactured goods are included in the Protocol, again as suggested by the Prime Minister. If these posts are indeed 'existing' then why is it costing £50m?

“With regard to the Cabinet Office response, the Government is trying to downplay the implications of the Protocol for the movement of goods and denies that what has been agreed constitutes a Border. Indeed the use of parenthesis for the word border, illustrates that there is a refusal to acknowledge what HMG itself proposed in 2019. There is no free movement of goods to Northern Ireland and never will be as long as the Protocol exists.

“This is all very frustrating for businesses and for the general public, who are learning fast that some of their orders are cancelled or only being delivered at extra cost, and we are less than two months away from the end of the derogation for supermarket products.

“I call on government to be open and honest, and sit down with political and business leaders to thrash out a long term solution with the EU that works for all.”