The UK’s foreign secretary James Cleverly has suggested he will not delay the Northern Ireland Protocol Bill, insisting the commitment he has made is for it to progress at a normal pace while negotiations with the EU continue.
Mr Cleverly said in the House of Commons that he told European Commission vice-president Maroš Šefčovič “we would not either artificially accelerate that process or artificially hinder or retard that process”.
He was speaking during a session of questions to Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) ministers, where he was also warned by DUP MP Ian Paisley that the “EU smells weakness in this government if they take their foot off the pedal”.
The exchanges follow a report in The Times newspaper that British prime minister Rishi Sunak has put the Bill “on ice”.
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The protocol is aimed at avoiding a hard Border on the island of Ireland, but it has introduced economic barriers on the movement of goods between Britain and Northern Ireland.
The UK government is seeking to change the current system, either with a negotiated compromise with the European Union or through the Bill, which would empower ministers to scrap arrangements without the approval of Brussels.
In the House of Commons on Tuesday, Labour former minister Hilary Benn said: “We ... read that the Northern Ireland Protocol Bill is on ice while the negotiations continue. Can the Foreign Secretary assure the House that if an agreement with the EU is reached, and we all hope it will happen, that the Northern Ireland Protocol Bill will be dropped?”
Mr Cleverly replied: “The Northern Ireland Protocol Bill exists for a reason. The commitment that I made to Maroš Šefčovič and the conversations that I had with him and with others is that we would not either artificially accelerate that process or artificially hinder or retard that process.
“We have always said that our preferred option is through negotiations. We speak regularly, the tone is positive and I think that there is now an understanding that the concerns that we have raised, and have been raised particularly by the unionist community in Northern Ireland, are not confected, that they are real and that any agreement would need to address them.”
Mr Paisley, the DUP for North Antrim, urged Mr Cleverly not to take the Northern Ireland Protocol Bill off the table.
He said: “Does he not believe that the EU smells weakness in this government if they take their foot off the pedal with regards to the protocol Bill in the other place?
“I would encourage the foreign secretary to press on with the protocol Bill”
‘Centre of excellence’
Elsewhere in the session, addressing an unrelated question, British foreign office minister Andrew Mitchell said his department intends to establish a “centre of expertise to support democrat governance around the world”.
He told MPs: “Officials have assessed the merits of establishing an FCDO centre of expertise to support democratic governance around the world.
“Funding permitting, we fully intend to establish one to address the democratic deficit the world is facing.” – PA