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Sunak and Starmer Spar Over NI Protocol Talks at PMQs
Sunak and Starmer Spar Over NI Protocol Talks at PMQs
Sputnik International
UK PM Rishi Sunak flew to Belfast at the weekend to seek support from both sides of the sectarian divide for a deal with Brussels on reforming the Norther Ireland Protocol tacked onto the post-Brexit withdrawal agreement.
2023-02-22T18:07+0000
2023-02-22T18:07+0000
2023-05-28T15:25+0000
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Britain's prime minister and opposition leader have traded blows in Parliament over the Northern Ireland protocol.Rishi Sunak and Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer squared off at PM's Questions in the House of Commons on Wednesday.The row over the annexe to UK's post-Brexit withdrawal agreement with the European Union (EU) has been rumbling on for three years.The insistence by Brussels and Dublin that the exclave remain in the EU's single market to avoid breaching part of the 1999 Belfast peace agreement has led to customs checks and in some cases import bans on goods from the British mainland.Sunak travelled to Belfast at the weekend to hammer out an agreement with both Republican and Unionist parties after the EU softened its stance on re-negotiating the protocol.Starmer — a leading opponent of Brexit before becoming party leader — suggested the protocol had been "poorly implemented" and demanded the removal of "unnecessary checks" on internal UK commerce.Starmer, playing to the Eurosceptic Conservative backbenches, asked whether the deal Sunak was negotiating would still leave Northern Ireland subject to some EU laws or under the jurisdiction The PM accused the opposition leader of jumping ahead, adding that his aim was "sovereignty for Northern Ireland."Starmer also demanded that Sunak drop the Northern Ireland Protocol Bill, which would make use of the Article 16 clause written into the agreement to make emergency changes. He said that would put the UK at odds with the EU and US at a time when they needed to "show unity against Putin".Sunak replied that Starmer "wants to put the EU first, but I want to put Northern Ireland first," recalling that the Labour leader was "constantly voting to frustrate Brexit" before the landslide Tory victory in the 2019 general election. The PM also took the opportunity to ridicule Starmer's latest policy speech scheduled for Thursday, when he would lay out five 'missions' for the Labour Party.Democratic Unionist Party parliamentary group leader Sir Jeffrey Donaldson said there was "a lot of support" on the Tory benches for his party's opposition to the protocol."Obviously we haven’t seen any of the legal text of any agreement, and there remain matters that need to be addressed and those are quite significant issues," Donaldson said, welcoming Sunak's words as proof that he was not just "tinkering around the edges of the protocol.""This is about significant, substantive change to the treaty itself, that respects Northern Ireland’s place in the United Kingdom and our ability to operate freely within the internal market of the UK."
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Sunak and Starmer Spar Over NI Protocol Talks at PMQs
18:07 GMT 22.02.2023 (Updated: 15:25 GMT 28.05.2023) UK PM Rishi Sunak flew to Belfast at the weekend to seek support from both sides of the sectarian divide for a deal with Brussels on reforming the Norther Ireland Protocol tacked onto the post-Brexit withdrawal agreement.
Britain's prime minister and opposition leader have traded blows in Parliament over the Northern Ireland protocol.
Rishi Sunak and Labour leader
Sir Keir Starmer squared off at PM's Questions in the House of Commons on Wednesday.
The row over the annexe to UK's post-Brexit withdrawal agreement with the European Union (EU) has been rumbling on for three years.
The insistence by Brussels and Dublin that the exclave remain in the EU's single market to avoid breaching part of the 1999 Belfast peace agreement has led to customs checks and in some cases import bans on goods from the British mainland.
Sunak travelled to
Belfast at the weekend to hammer out an agreement with both Republican and Unionist parties after the EU softened its stance on re-negotiating the protocol.
Starmer — a leading opponent of Brexit before becoming party leader — suggested the protocol had been "poorly implemented" and demanded the removal of "unnecessary checks" on internal UK commerce.
Starmer, playing to the
Eurosceptic Conservative backbenches, asked whether the deal Sunak was negotiating would still leave Northern Ireland subject to some EU laws or under the jurisdiction
The PM accused the opposition leader of jumping ahead, adding that his aim was "sovereignty for Northern Ireland."
"It’s his usual position when it comes to the EU. It’s ‘give the EU a blank cheque and agree to anything they offer’," Sunak retorted. "It’s not a strategy, Mr Speaker, it’s surrender."
Starmer also demanded that Sunak drop the Northern Ireland Protocol Bill, which would make use of the Article 16 clause written into the agreement to make emergency changes. He said that would put the UK at odds with the EU and US at a time when they needed to "show unity against Putin".
Sunak replied that Starmer "wants to put the EU first, but I want to put Northern Ireland first," recalling that the Labour leader was "constantly voting to frustrate Brexit" before the landslide Tory victory in the 2019 general election.
"The sound you here is them cheering the prime minister pulling the wool over their eyes," Starmer insisted, asking whether Parliament would get a vote on any deal. Sunak replied weakly that "of course Parliament will express its view" to jeers.
21 February 2023, 15:08 GMT
The PM also took the opportunity to ridicule Starmer's latest policy speech scheduled for Thursday, when he would lay out five 'missions' for the Labour Party.
"We already know what they are," Sunak jeered. "It’s uncontrolled immigration, it’s reckless spending, it’s higher debts, and it’s softer sentences, and for the fifth pledge we all know that he reserves the right to change his mind on the other four."
Democratic Unionist Party parliamentary group leader Sir Jeffrey Donaldson said there was "a lot of support" on the Tory benches for his party's opposition to the protocol.
"Obviously we haven’t seen any of the legal text of any agreement, and there remain matters that need to be addressed and those are quite significant issues," Donaldson said, welcoming Sunak's words as proof that he was not just "tinkering around the edges of the protocol."
"This is about significant, substantive change to the treaty itself, that respects Northern Ireland’s place in the United Kingdom and our ability to operate freely within the internal market of the UK."
