15 days ago
Yahoo Sport UK
All parties “want a deal” to resolve the Northern Ireland Protocol impasse but “there is a large gap to be bridged”, Northern Ireland Office minister Steve Baker has said. Members of the DUP spoke out in opposition to the protocol, with leader Sir Jeffrey Donaldson warning his party was not prepared to tolerate a situation where Northern Ireland is treated like “an EU colony”. The exchanges came as MPs approved all Commons stages of the Northern Ireland Budget Bill to authorise resources for public services in Northern Ireland for the years ending March 31 2023 and 2024 in the absence of a functioning devolved Northern Ireland Assembly and executive. Rather than asking unionists in Northern Ireland to do the political impossibility, it should feel that it, the Government should face up to its own responsibilities. Designed as a means to keep the Irish land border free-flowing, it moved regulatory and customs checks on goods to the Irish Sea, creating economic barriers on trade between Great Britain and Northern Ireland.
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