Northern Ireland plunged into chaos as DUP First Minister Paul Givan prepares to QUIT
Northern Ireland plunged into chaos as DUP First Minister Paul Givan prepares to QUIT and collapse power-sharing government after party sparks major Brexit row by unilaterally halting border checks on agricultural and food products
DUP minster Poots ordered NI protocol checks to be stopped at midnightOpposition insisted the civil service has a duty to comply with legal obligationsMr Poots said legal advice he sought suggests he was entitled to stop the checksLiz Truss will tell the EU that Britain will not overrule the decision taken by NI
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Northern Ireland was enveloped in a fresh political crisis today as the DUP First Minister prepared to collapse the power-sharing government amid a furious Brexit row.
Paul Givan is reportedly planning to quit today, after his party unilaterally suspended border checks introduced after Britain quit the EU.
DUP agriculture minister Edwin Poots last night announced officials would stop carrying out the inspections required under the Northern Ireland Protocol at midnight.
The checks are the main bone of contention in ongoing talks between the UK and the EU over the implementation of the post-Brexit agreement between the two.
However, there has been no confirmation from Stormont officials whether they intend to comply with the order.
It is understood senior DUP figures met this morning to confirm the timing and details of Mr Givan’s resignation statement. An announcement is expected this afternoon and his resignation would be effective immediately.
Downing Street today said that the checks continued – and admitted it had been caught off-guard.
Asked if Boris Johnson would like to see the checks continue, his official spokesman said: ‘Yes, we would like this situation to be resolved, recognising it is a matter for the Northern Ireland Executive.’
DUP rivals at Stormont insist Mr Poots’ direction is unlawful and civil servants are obliged to follow the law at all times.
And today the European Commission said the decision creates ‘further uncertainty and unpredictability’.
Foreign Secretary Liz Truss is holding virtual talks with commission counterpart Maros Sefcovic today.
Ms Truss hopes to convince the EU that the dispute proves the current Protocol is not fit for purpose and must be amended, The Telegraph reported.
The resignation of the First Minister would automatically remove Sinn Fein deputy First Minister Michelle O’Neill from office ahead of elections planned for May.
In those circumstances, other ministers in the administration could still remain in place. However, the Executive could not take any significant decisions.
That would prevent the coalition from agreeing a three-year budget – a spending plan that is currently out for public consultation.
A planned official state apology by Mr Givan and Ms O’Neill to victims of historic institutional abuse, scheduled for March, could also not happen.
Ms O’Neill has branded the DUP tactics as a stunt motivated by poor opinion poll performances ahead of the election.
Paul Given is reportedly planning to quit this week, after his party unilaterally suspended border checks introduced after Britain quit the EU.
The checks (Belfast Docks pictured today) are the main bone of contention in ongoing talks between the UK and the EU over the implementation of the post-Brexit agreement between the two.
Liz Truss will tell the EU today that Britain is not colluding with the DUP over the order to halt border checks in the Irish Sea
DUP minister Edwin Poots (pictured), whose officials are responsible for carrying out Northern Ireland Protocol checks as part of Britain’s Brexit Withdrawal Agreement, said he had ordered his permanent secretary to stop them at midnight on Wednesday night
DUP leader Sir Jeffrey Donaldson has repeatedly threatened to bring down the Stormont institutions in protest against the so-called Irish Sea border, introduced as part of the post-Brexit protocol.
The Executive was only reconstituted in 2020 after a three year powersharing impasse triggering by a row about a botched green energy scheme.
Lorries were still being received at a Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs (Daera) checking facility in Belfast Port early on Thursday morning.
Several vehicles entered the facility after the ferry arrived from Cairnryan in Scotland at 6am.
Northern Ireland secretary Brandon Lewis also indicated last night that the Government will not intervene over the checks.
He told ITV’s Peston: ‘Obviously this is a matter for the Northern Ireland Executive, it is something that is within their legal remit.
‘It’s exactly the sort of thing we have been warning about, in terms of the stability of the executive and the decisions the executive ministers will take in order to ensure that products can move from Great Britain to Northern Ireland in a way that they always have done.’
Opposition parties in Northern Ireland reacted with fury to the decision by Poots, insisting the civil service has a duty to comply with Stormont’s legal obligations to carry out checks under the Withdrawal Agreement with the EU.
Irish foreign affairs minister Simon Coveney said it represents a ‘breach of international law’.
It was unclear last night whether the senior civil servant in Mr Poots’s department, Anthony Harbinson, would comply with the order.
The checks must be carried out as part of the Northern Ireland Protocol, which avoids the need for a hard border between Ireland and the UK nation (Pictured: Paperwork being checked by staff at the NI Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs on Monday)
The agriculture minister said legal advice he had sought on the issue supported his view that he was entitled to stop the checks.
The move came after he failed last week to secure the wider approval of the Stormont Executive to continue checks on agri-food produce arriving in Northern Ireland from Great Britain. Foreign Secretary Liz Truss said last week the UK would not step in if Mr Poots moved to halt the checks.
Under the terms of the Northern Ireland Protocol, the province is meant to retain full access to both the UK market and the European Single Market.
As part of the deal, Brussels insisted on checks on goods entering Northern Ireland from the rest of the UK to ensure the route did not become a back door into the single market.
But the onerous checks imposed by the EU have been blamed for causing serious disruption to trade within the UK, as well as sparking political tensions in Northern Ireland.
Boris Johnson accused the European Union of implementing post-Brexit border rules in Northern Ireland in an ‘insane’ way in Parliament last week
The protocol was negotiated as part of the Brexit deal to avoid a hard border with Ireland, by effectively keeping Northern Ireland in the EU’s single market for goods. But unionists have been pressuring for it to be scrapped
The DUP had set a February 21 deadline for the lifting of EU checks on goods arriving from Great Britain.
Mr Poots said the legal advice stated ‘there is presently no executive approval for SPS (sanitary and phytosanitary) checks’.
He added: ‘The implementation of SPS checks requires executive approval. A decision to initiate or continue such checks could not be validly taken in the absence of Executive approval. The advice concluded that I can direct the checks to cease in the absence of executive approval. I have now issued a formal instruction to my permanent secretary to halt all checks that were not in place on December 31, 2020, from midnight.
‘I will prepare a paper for executive consideration in the near future to seek agreement on a way forward.’
Mr Coveney suggested the DUP was ‘playing politics with legal obligations’.
He told the Irish parliament: ‘If a political decision is taken by a minister in Northern Ireland to stop all checks in ports on goods coming across the Irish Sea, coming into Northern Ireland, that is effectively a breach of international law.’
Sinn Fein deputy first minister Michelle O’Neill said: ‘This stunt is an attempt by the DUP to unlawfully interfere with domestic and international law.’
Whitehall sources said the move was ‘nuclear’ and the UK Government had not been given immediate prior warning of Mr Poots’s announcement.
A government spokesman in London said: ‘The operation of checks is a matter for the Northern Ireland executive. We have been consistently clear that there are significant problems with the protocol which urgently need fixing, which is why we are in intensive talks with the EU to find solutions.’
Mr Johnson was challenged over the rollout of the protocol at PMQs by DUP Leader Sir Jeffrey Donaldson
A spokesman added that Miss Truss would speak to European Commission vice-president Maros Sefcovic today. A diplomatic source said: ‘Miss Truss is talking to Mr Sefcovic and is focused on finding practical solutions to the problems created by the protocol and protecting peace and political stability in Northern Ireland.’
Northern Ireland Secretary Brandon Lewis said last night it was a matter for the Northern Ireland executive.
‘It is something within their legal remit,’ he told ITV. ‘One of the frustrations is, this I have to say, is something we have been saying to the European Union for some time, was the kind of thing that we could see happening.
‘It’s exactly the sort of thing that we have been warning about in terms of the stability of the executive and the decisions the executive ministers will take in order to make sure that products can move from Great Britain to Northern Ireland in a way that they always have done.’
