Brexit minister calls for urgent action on NI protocol

Brexit minister Lord Frost has warned he will suspend parts of the UK’s EU deal if they fail to agree to changes to the Northern Ireland Protocol.

Earlier this month Lord Frost told the House of Lords that it would be a “significant mistake” to assume the UK would not trigger Article 16, the part of the Northern Ireland Protocol which permits elements of the deal being temporarily suspended if they are evidenced to be causing “serious economic, societal or environmental difficulties that are liable to persist, or to diversion of trade.”

The protocol was implemented to prevent a hard border between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland in the wake of Brexit, and by keeping Northern Ireland in the EU’s single market for goods.

In his speech to the Conservative party conference today, Lord Frost re-emphasised his stance that the protocol – was “not working and needs to change”, and that triggering Article 16 may become “the only way” forward “to protect our country, our people, our trade and our territorial integrity, the peace process and the benefits to this great UK”.

Northern Ireland Secretary Brandon Lewis has previously stated that “the conditions have been met” to trigger Article 16 but that the government would prefer to negotiate a “sustainable” agreement instead.

Speaking at the Conservative party conference, Lord Frost said the government “knew [it was] taking a risk” when it agreed to the protocol in 2019, claiming his team were “worried right from the start that the protocol would not take the strain if not handled sensitively”.

He said the arrangements could “come apart even more quickly than we feared”, and that support for the protocol had diminished across Northern Ireland.

“We can still solve these problems,” said Lord Frost, highlighting the proposals sent to the EU in July.

“We still await a formal response from the EU… but from what I hear, I worry that we will not get a response that enables the significant change we need.”

“So I urge the EU to be ambitious. There is no use tinkering around the edges. We need significant change.”