A new House of Lords report into the Windsor Framework shows that it 'utterly fails' the DUP's seven tests, says Nigel Dodds
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The party’s House of Lords leader was responding to the findings of a committee of peers who looked at Rishi Sunak’s deal with the EU to reform the Northern Ireland Protocol. Lord Dodds, who is on the committee but which has more pro-EU members than Brexiteers, cited the way in which today’s report says that the new trade arrangement across the Irish Sea will be an improvement on the NI Protocol as it was originally designed but more burdensome than the protocol as it is at present, because it has never been implemented due to the UK’s unilateral imposition of grace periods.
The report today cites various concerns of groups such as hauliers and retailers to aspects of the framework including the proposed red and green lanes and the Stormont lock, and then repeatedly calls on Mr Sunak’s government to provide clarity in response to those concerns.
Lord Dodds said: “It is clear that the Windsor Framework utterly fails the seven tests set by the DUP. It represents the embedding of the Irish Sea border to a greater extent than anything we have seen thus far.”
While the DUP said in its council election manifesto that the framework failed its tests, Lord Dodds is now saying so with particular emphasis. He claimed that the report showed the framework “makes things worse for businesses compared to what they have experienced up to now”.
Lord Dodds, whose party currently refuses to operate power-sharing at Stormont, in protest at the NI Protocol, said: “The original protocol was unworkable and could not be implemented without major damage to our economy. That led to grace periods and easements. Now these are to be done away with and replaced with the more onerous and burdensome Windsor Framework provisions.
“The Windsor Framework renders us worse off in terms of the Irish Sea border and creates greater checks and barriers to trade with the rest of the UK compared to what we have experienced thus far even if it theoretically improves upon the original version of the protocol which was unworkable in any case.”
He continued: “The report points out there are still many unresolved and outstanding problems that have not been settled by the Windsor Framework. It looks through the hype and spin around the government narrative … and objectively analyses the truth behind the propaganda. It is clear that the Windsor Framework utterly fails the seven tests set by the DUP. It represents the embedding of the Irish Sea border to a greater extent than anything we have seen thus far.
“The events at Westminster last week, where the government sacked five of its own MPs from a committee to force through the new border for sending parcels to Northern Ireland, illustrates the reality of what it is actually doing versus the spin it tries to peddle.”
The government’s new legislation on postal regulations was not published when the peers compiled their evidence. However, the committee’s report noted that, “while the provisions are less burdensome than the protocol as originally conceived, they represent an increase in customs processes for business movements compared to the protocol as it has operated to date, in particular for business-to-business movements where suppliers are not trusted traders”.
Lords report into Windsor Framework: Hauliers were forthright witnesses