MPs have approved Rishi Sunak’s plan to revive the power-sharing government in Northern Ireland, despite some unhappiness from unionists in Westminster.
The Commons passed the necessary legislation on Thursday afternoon, and it will now head to the Lords for its final sign off.
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The government’s deal to remove routine checks on goods moving from Great Britain to Northern Ireland has won widespread applause and is set to herald the return of Stormont following a two-year hiatus.
The deal – reached after intense talks with the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) which collapsed the Northern Ireland Assembly in protest at the prime minister’s Windsor Framework – will also mean the Withdrawal Act is amended so EU law will no longer apply automatically in Northern Ireland.
DUP leader Sir Jeffrey Donaldson has said his party negotiated “clear” alterations to the Windsor Framework by ending routine checks on goods that some unionists felt undermined Northern Ireland’s place in the union.
While Sir Jeffrey and other parties welcomed the deal, Sammy Wilson, the DUP MP for East Antrim, said the new deal will leave EU border posts in Northern Ireland – something that has been disputed.
Speaking in the Commons yesterday, Mr Wilson branded the government “spineless, weak-kneed and ‘Brexit-betraying'”.
“When the Northern Ireland Assembly sits, ministers and assembly members will be expected by law to adhere to and implement laws which are made in Brussels, which they had no say over and no ability to amend, and no ability to stop,” he said.
“This is a result of this spineless, weak-kneed, Brexit-betraying government, refusing to take on the EU and its interference in Northern Ireland.”
Today’s signing off of the plan came after the government fast-tracked two pieces of domestic legislation in parliament on Thursday that will give effect to the commitments made in its Safeguarding The Union command paper that was published yesterday.
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