Levelling Up minister's claim the Northern Ireland benefits from the ‘best of both worlds’ is nonsense - TUV

The party’s Ballymoney councillor accused the minister of “rehashing the nonsense that the Protocol allows Northern Ireland to have the ‘best of both worlds’” – and said it “will be dismissed by anyone who has followed the outworkings of the Sea Border”.

He said: “Northern Ireland has been left in the a foreign customs union and subject to foreign laws overseen by a foreign court. Consequently there is a border in the Irish Sea which has divided the United Kingdom and, as Minister Young’s own Government argued during the judicial review of the Protocol, Article Six of the Acts of Union has been ‘disapplied’.

“If one wants to find evidence of that you need look no further than the front page of [yesterday’s] News Letter and how a lifelong hobby has been destroyed because of the Sea Border. Businesses which are highly integrated with the rest of the UK are facing challenges day and daily.

“With manufacturing in Northern Ireland relying on goods coming through the red lane when they come from Great Britain the reality is that they might as well be coming from Bolivia. Under the pernicious Protocol the rest of our nation is being treated as a foreign country. That’s the reality.

“Minister Young for all his spinning wouldn’t accept that situation for his own constituents. Why, therefore, should the people of Northern Ireland accept it? The core issue in all of this is one of equal citizenship.”

Yesterday, Levelling Up minister Jacob Young said he genuinely believes Northern Ireland has the “best of both worlds” under the Windsor Framework – but sidestepped a question on whether the government should admit there is still a border in the Irish Sea.

The minister visited projects in Banbridge, Belfast and Bushmills yesterday, which have benefitted from the Levelling Up Fund, the UK Shared Prosperity Fund and the Community Ownership Fund.

Mr Young said because of government projects and the Windsor Framework, “Northern Ireland is actually one of the best places in the United Kingdom to do business. They almost benefit from the best of both worlds”.

The News Letter pointed out to the minister the reality of supply chain disruption, the reorientation of trade towards the EU and the fact that manufacturing goods go through the red lane – and asked if he felt the current trade arrangements are ideal.

Minister Young said “In the long term, we want to see the economy of NI continue to grow. And that’s why we have an enhanced investment zone in NI. To ensure that the businesses that invest here are supported and are able to grow.

“Through the Windsor Framework, businesses that invest in NI have access to the internal market of the UK and the internal market of the EU as well. So I genuinely believe it is the best of both worlds for NI and it means that in this great part of our United Kingdom it will see the economy grow in the years and decades ahead”.

Asked if it would not be simpler for the government to admit that there is still a border in the Irish Sea and avoid confusion and uncertainty for the public and businesses, he said: “What my message is to the people of Northern Ireland is that the UK government is absolutely committed to ensure the economy continues to grow here… and that we are able to invest in our private sector in NI and ensure that it is robust and that it’s employing people locally. And that local people have the opportunities to get on in life in NI. That should be our primary focus. Whatever we can to to help ensure the economy does thrive here, that’s what the UK government is focused on doing”.

He said the Enhanced Investment Zone scheme “demonstrates our commitment that NI really does see the benefits of both being in the internal market of the UK and the single market of the EU”.