Windsor Framework review must be honest assessment of problems – Robinson
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An independent review of how the Windsor Framework is functioning must be an honest assessment rather than an exercise in “papering over” problems, DUP leader Gavin Robinson has said. The Government announced this week that former Northern Ireland and Welsh secretary Lord Murphy will carry out the review of the operation of the UK and EU’s framework deal, following a vote by the Stormont Assembly to extend post-Brexit trading arrangements for the region for another four years.
Lord Murphy has said he has a “job of work” to do, adding his role is to listen to the concerns people have about the trading arrangements. But Mr Robinson said there has to be more urgency in responding to the concerns of unionists. The Stormont debate and vote in December were required under the democratic consent mechanism in the Windsor Framework and were designed to give local elected representatives a say on the trade rules that now operate in the region.
The framework, and its predecessor the NI Protocol, require checks and customs paperwork on goods moving from Great Britain into Northern Ireland. Under the arrangements, which were designed to ensure no hardening of the Irish land border post-Brexit, Northern Ireland continues to follow many EU trade and customs rules.
This has proved highly controversial, with unionists arguing the system threatens Northern Ireland’s place in the United Kingdom. The Stormont vote on the parts of the framework which underpin the EU trade laws in force in Northern Ireland did not require cross-community support to pass.
