Brexit: Mandelson warns unionists may need 'trade-off' over sovereignty

Lord Mandelson, who is a former European Commissioner, also said the EU should go the "extra mile" in finding the flexibilities around the sovereignty issues

Former NI Secretary Lord Mandelson has suggested unionists may have to agree "trade-offs" over sovereignty to ensure Northern Ireland benefits from new post-Brexit arrangements.

He warned if the government "presses down hard" on sovereignty issues in EU negotiations then it risks pushing relationships "back to square one".

He was speaking at a Lords Committee.

It is taking evidence for an inquiry into the future UK-EU relationship.

Meanwhile the former Brexit negotiator Lord Frost said politics in Northern Ireland was "too fragile" for the EU to enforce its rules through the European court.

'Miserable divorce'

Both peers were addressing the Lords European Affairs Committee on Tuesday focusing on the Northern Ireland protocol and the wider relationship with the EU post-Brexit.

Lord Mandelson said the relationships with Brussels has been "very poor" because of what he called a "miserable divorce" though he acknowledged the "chasm" has been narrowed in recent weeks.

Lord Frost gave evidence to the Lords European Affairs Committee

He said there was a lot of doubt in the EU as to whether the UK is a "stable interlocker", as it seems to be "rolling around and people don't know who or what they are dealing with".

While Lord Frost said there needs to be shift in the current relationship if the Northern Ireland protocol is to be fixed and put on a durable basis.

'Fragile'

He also warned the European court can not have a jurisdictional role in future arrangement because he said "politics is too fragile" in Northern Ireland to accept such a scenario.

That prompted Lord Mandelson to say "everything is always fragile in Northern Ireland" as he learned from his time as Secretary of the State.

He said unionists in Northern Ireland want the economy to work in the best possible way and are aware of the "advantageous" access to both the UK and EU markets under the protocol.

The protocol effectively keeps Northern Ireland in the EU's single market for goods - avoiding a hard border on the island of Ireland.

• A simple guide to the Northern Ireland Protocol

"They know they are going to have to sign up to the trade-off between sovereigntists issues and the advantages of trade and movement of goods," he said.

But he also said the EU should go the "extra mile" in finding the flexibilities around the sovereignty issues.