Brexit: MPs to hold inquiry into the NI protocol

MPs are due to debate the Internal Market Bill on Monday

A Westminster committee is to hold an inquiry into the Northern Ireland protocol, agreed by the UK and EU as part of the Brexit deal.

The government is trying to pass a new bill that would allow them to override parts of the arrangements agreed for Northern Ireland.

MPs are due to debate the Internal Market Bill on Monday.

Under the protocol, Northern Ireland will continue to enforce EU customs and follow its rules on product standards.

But the details of those new controls are still being negotiated by the EU and UK through a joint committee.

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Number 10 says it is acting unilaterally to create a safety net in case those negotiations do not reach an agreement - although NI Secretary Brandon Lewis has conceded that plan will break international law.

The Northern Ireland Affairs Committee has launched a wide-ranging inquiry to examine the NI protocol and its implications.

Its terms of reference include examining the preparedness of government, public services and businesses for the protocol coming into force on 1 January 2021 - the day after the UK's transition period with the EU is due to end.

It will also look at the implications of the protocol for the economy and investment in Northern Ireland, as well as its effects for devolution.

Mr Lewis is due to give evidence to the committee on Wednesday.

Simon Hoare, chair of the NI Affairs Committee, said the protocol would bring "significant" change

The committee's chair Simon Hoare said the NI Protocol would be a "significant change for all walks of life" in Northern Ireland.

"Negotiations between the UK and EU on the precise form of some aspects within the NI protocol are ongoing," he said.

"We will be asking the secretary of state about these matters at our first hearing on Wednesday.

"I know the committee will be keen to establish how the protocol now apparently undermines the Good Friday Agreement when two months ago it did no such thing.

"With events moving so rapidly and crunch time on negotiations fast approaching it's an absolute necessity that we have a rolling and flexible inquiry into the implications of the protocol; deal or no deal."

'No long-term vision'

Meanwhile, environmental groups say they believe the sector has been regarded as a very low priority in Brexit preparations and the Northern Ireland protocol.

Members of the Northern Ireland Environment Link (NIEL), giving evidence to Stormont's Daera committee, said there were serious implications for the environment and wider society.

The group's Sean Kelly said the protocol focused on frictionless trade above all else, and there was no long-term vision for how agriculture and the environment could be supported in the future.

NIEL was giving evidence to assembly members on its view of Brexit preparations within the sector.

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Mr Kelly said there were huge gaps in what was planned for environmental protection, and primary legislation was needed to deliver for the sector in Northern Ireland.

He said environmental strategies became mere wish lists which were "bumped down the road" unless they were given legal frameworks.

'No commitments'

John Martin from the RSPB told MLAs the governments in Wales and Scotland had given commitments to their agriculture sectors, but nothing similar had been done here.

"There is concern that the status quo will continue and there is widespread acknowledgement that it can't," he said.

"The Internal Markets Bill throws that into stark realisation, in terms of there going to be a key difference between how agriculture is operating in Northern Ireland and how it is operating in other parts of the UK.

"In Wales, and Scotland in particular, they have got commitments from their minister and government to change agriculture policy by at least 2024.

"There is no commitment in NI to do that."

He added: "We would like to see primary legislation on agriculture, on marine, on fisheries, on the environment in Northern Ireland, but we have had no assurances from the minister or the Executive on when that will be."