The Windsor Framework will go down in history as a missed opportunity
At the last general election, we promised to get Brexit done, protect the integrity of the internal market of the United Kingdom and put a stop to a foreign power – the EU – determining and dictating laws affecting the UK.
We also gave clear commitments to the people of Northern Ireland that businesses and producers could “enjoy unfettered access to the rest of the UK”.
Those commitments saw us elected with the biggest majority in a generation, giving a clear mandate to stand up to the EU in Brexit negotiations, protect the national interest and defend Northern Ireland’s position as an integral part of the United Kingdom.
Within weeks of winning the election we formally left the EU, but there were a number of transitional arrangements put in place to smooth our departure, including the Northern Ireland Protocol.
Although not ideal, the protocol was always meant to be a temporary measure that would be renegotiated. Under Boris Johnson’s leadership, we were in a position of strength to go into those negotiations, with the Northern Ireland Protocol Bill, which would have given us the powers to disapply EU laws currently impacting on us, going through Parliament.
This meant we could negotiate with the guarantee that we could protect the internal market within the United Kingdom and safeguard the sovereignty of our country. It was those proposed laws that brought the EU round the table, and from this position of strength we should have secured all of our objectives.
While the Prime Minister deserves some credit for making progress in negotiations with the EU, the Windsor Framework does not represent a good deal for the UK or for Northern Ireland. It fails to meet the promises made in our manifesto and leaves far too much to chance, with Northern Ireland facing more uncertainty in the future and continuing to be on the receiving end of Brussel’s legislative whim.
The so-called “Stormont brake”, which was rushed through the House of Commons with just 90 minutes of debate, does not empower the Northern Ireland Assembly or the UK Parliament to stop EU laws controlling large aspects of the lives and businesses of the people of Northern Ireland.
It does not enable democratically elected politicians in Northern Ireland to remove existing EU laws imposed on them.
When new EU laws are proposed or existing EU laws changed, the powers to prevent them being imposed on Northern Ireland, and any knock-on impacts on the UK, are severely limited. The process that has been introduced may only end up amounting to little more than an opportunity to protest and complain than to block or change.
Crucially, the legislation talks about the “Stormont brake” only being able to be used when “significant” changes in EU laws are being proposed, leaving interpretation and resolution in the hands of lawyers, arbitrators and unelected bureaucrats.
The Windsor Framework also leaves many practical issues unresolved. It is unclear how effective the green lane arrangements will be and the extent to which the EU can continue to pull the strings on VAT rules and state aid. The horticulture and fisheries sectors have not seen the changes they need to facilitate trade within the UK’s internal market between Great Britain and Northern Ireland.
Is it any wonder that so many people continue to be suspicious of the Windsor Framework when the changes the Government and the EU are talking up are little more than a thin veneer that, when scratched, exposes the rotten wood of continued EU control over our territory.
The Framework will go down in history as a missed opportunity to resolve the practical challenges posed by the Northern Ireland Protocol, restore democratic accountability to Northern Ireland and put a stop to the EU making laws that directly impact on our country.
Those of us who opposed it in Parliament fear that, in the months ahead, it will unravel to the detriment of our democracy and the integrity of our United Kingdom.
Rt Hon Priti Patel is a former home secretary and one of the 28 ‘Spartan’ Tories who voted against Theresa May’s Brexit deal
