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The Telegraph
The Telegraph
National
Ben Riley-Smith

Boris Johnson: Northern Ireland Protocol stopping us tackling cost-of-living crisis

Boris Johnson - Frank Augstein/AP Photo
Boris Johnson - Frank Augstein/AP Photo

Boris Johnson has warned that the Northern Ireland Protocol is holding Westminster back from helping with the cost-of-living crisis as he prepares to approve a law scrapping key parts of the agreement.

The Prime Minister will travel to Belfast on Monday for talks with political leaders, and later this week is expected  to sign off plans for domestic legislation giving the Government the right to suspend elements of the Brexit deal.

In an article published ahead of his visit, the Prime Minister argued that the Protocol was "restricting" his ability to help with the province's post-Covid recovery and holding back economic growth.

He said a new UK-wide VAT cut on renewable energy products cannot be implemented in Northern Ireland because of the terms of the Protocol.

Mr Johnson said the deal was designed before the Covid pandemic and the war in Ukraine "created a cost-of-living crisis on a scale not seen for half a century".

"I hope the EU's position changes. If it does not, there will be a necessity to act," Mr Johnson wrote in a warning that he is prepared to go it alone to resolve the trade frictions.

On Tuesday, Liz Truss, the Foreign Secretary, is set to end weeks of speculation by saying the UK intends to table legislation to unilaterally suspend parts of the protocol, despite warnings that the move could collapse talks with Brussels and spark a trade war with the EU.

The proposed law will seek changes in around half a dozen areas, including reducing checks on goods only going into Northern Ireland and stopping European Court of Justice oversight.

But the door will also be kept open to a negotiated solution with Brussels, with Ms Truss expected to make it clear that talks will continue after being accused by government colleagues of a "gung-ho" attitude.

On Sunday there was a pre-emptive warning from Simon Coveney, Ireland's foreign minister, who said the proposed law would undermine the Northern Irish peace process.

The protocol dictates the terms of trade in Northern Ireland after Brexit. It agrees to keep the land border on the island of Ireland open, with customs checks instead happening over the Irish Sea.

Mr Johnson will hold talks with leaders from five political parties during his Belfast visit amid a stand-off over power-sharing in Stormont after the Northern Irish elections earlier this month.

Adopting a tougher stance on the Protocol could help convince the Democratic Unionist Party to agree to share power with Sinn Fein, which won the elections and supports a united Ireland.

But Michelle O’Neill, the Sinn Fein vice-president, said she would make her opposition clear to the Prime Minister, adding: "I will be telling Boris Johnson that unilateral action deepens political instability and economic uncertainty and must not happen."

In his article for The Belfast Telegraph, Mr Johnson laid out the ground for acting alone on the protocol. He wrote: "It was designed before a global pandemic and a European war which has created a cost-of-living crisis on a scale not seen for half a century.

"For there even to be a question about the fast availability of medicines or medical testing in Northern Ireland (between two constituent parts of the same National Health Service) is incompatible with the post-Covid era.

"For the Chancellor of the Exchequer to say in his Spring Statement that people in Northern Ireland could not be granted the same benefits in terms of tax and VAT as those in the rest of the same country is a serious issue.

"It means our ability to assist with post-Covid recovery – and moreover, the long-term economic development of Northern Ireland – is restricted."

The claim will raise eyebrows given that the cost of living is the number one concern for Britons, according to polls, and Mr Johnson is resisting announcing a major new tax cut, which would be unaffected by the protocol, before the autumn.

Andrew Griffith, the director of the Number 10 Policy Unit, on Sunday argued that tax cuts are supported as much in former Labour-voting Red Wall constituencies as traditional Tory-voting areas.

Speaking to The Telegraph in his first interview since taking the role, Mr Griffith said of Red Wall voters: "What I see is that they understand that the state does not always know best."

Liz Truss has been accused of being 'a little too muscular' in negotiations - Georg Wendt/Pool/Getty Images
Liz Truss has been accused of being 'a little too muscular' in negotiations - Georg Wendt/Pool/Getty Images

Ms Truss has been the subject of a string of negative briefings claiming Downing Street is concerned by her "gung-ho" attitude to a unilateral move on the protocol.

Simon Hoare, the Tory chairman of the Northern Ireland affairs committee, who is opposed to unilateral action, on Sunday said Ms Truss had been a "little too muscular" in negotiations.

But an ally of Ms Truss told The Telegraph she wants negotiations to continue even if the move towards legislation is signed off by Cabinet ministers and announced on Tuesday.

The full legislation is not expected to be published and submitted to Parliament on Tuesday, meaning the EU may decide not to immediately launch legal action.

Mr Coveney on Sunday told Sky News: "What I see at the moment is a British Government making statements and briefing against the EU, and creating a lot of tension in my country, your closest neighbour, and also potentially being on the verge of making a decision that could fundamentally undermine the functioning of the institutions of the peace process in Northern Ireland."

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