Former DUP deputy leader Nigel Dodds has compared the current situation in Northern Ireland to that of “a colony”, arguing that the protocol means the people there are governed by EU rules without any representation in that body.
During a contentious debate in the House of Lords over the Northern Ireland Protocol Bill, in which an amendment threatens to delay the legislation, Lord Dodds of Duncairn insisted the Bill is “necessary”.
He said the Northern Ireland Protocol “rips up the free trading arrangements enshrined in Article 6 of the Act of Union itself, it runs completely contrary to the cross-community arrangements which are at the heart of the Belfast Agreement, it is contrary to the consent principle, it upsets the delicate balance of the agreements and undermines the institutions of the very agreement that it was designed and purports to safeguard, and it negates democracy itself.
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“Up until the 31st December 2020, the people of Northern Ireland, in common with the rest of the United Kingdom, were able to elect legislators to make all the laws to which they were subject.
“From the 1st January 2021, every citizen of the United Kingdom living in Northern Ireland has had the experience of having the significance of their votes slashed as the responsibility for making the laws of Northern Ireland over vast swathes of the economy are taken from them, given to the members of the legislature of a foreign political entity of which they are not part, of which they have no representation, not just in relation to one statute or one area of law, but in relation to 300 areas of law.”
He argued that this has “far-reaching” and “detrimental” consequences for the people of Northern Ireland.
He added: “We have increasing friction for goods from one part of the UK to another as a result of needless checks and tons of paperwork, we have divergence of trade, restricted consumer choice and increased costs, we have threats to investment through having different state aid arrangements and regimes for Northern Ireland and Great Britain, we are denied the benefit as British citizens of the UK of UK-wide tax changes by being subject to EU VAT rules...
“As I looked around to try and describe the reality of what confronts us, the only model I can find that comes close to fitting is the UN category of a non-self-governing territory, which is the current term for a colony.
“Most colonies today are actually largely self-governing; they remain classified as colonies because they are not entirely self-governing. That such a solution should be considered desirable or indeed workable for part of this United Kingdom in the 21st century beggars belief.”
He added that the “greatest urgency” is to “restore full democratic rights to people in Northern Ireland”.
Making reference to the UK’s support of Ukraine against Russia’s illegal invasion earlier this year, he said: “We cannot defend and support the sovereignty of Ukraine, rightly so, and at the same time defend and support the trashing of the sovereignty of the United Kingdom.”
Earlier, however, the DUP faced accusations of taking a hardline stance on post-Brexit trade arrangements in order to avoid having to be a junior partner to Sinn Fein.
Conservative peer Lord Clarke of Nottingham made the claim as the Lords continued their scrutiny of the Northern Ireland Protocol Bill. He told peers the DUP were “the authors of this Bill”, and claimed it was not a Conservative piece of legislation.
He said: “They have just done badly in Ulster elections. They are using the Northern Ireland Protocol as their explanation they would say, excuse I would say, for not joining a Northern Irish executive under Sinn Fein leadership, because Sinn Fein should be entitled to the chief minister’s position.”
The unionist party also came under fire from other peers across the House.
Labour peer Lord Triesman said: “Who is refusing to take part in the power-sharing in Northern Ireland? Arguably the most extreme right-wing party anywhere in the United Kingdom, the DUP.
“That I am afraid, and they won’t like it, is my view of who they are and what they are. They have decided that they won’t take part and they have decided that the efforts that could be made across the areas of health and education and all those other areas should not proceed. I think that is a dreadful and scandalous thing to do.”
Crossbench peer Lord Bew said: “It is the case that on June 27 the DUP in the House did explicitly state that in the event the Bill passes the Commons for the second reading there would be moves towards the return of devolution.”
Addressing DUP peers, he added: “No such moves have happened. This is the vulnerability. That is why Lord Clarke is able to raise these issues of your good faith.”
Responding to Lord Clarke’s accusations, DUP peer Lord Dodds of Duncairn said: “Can I reassure him and the House, the Democratic Unionist Party has no difficulty in re-entering the executive with a Sinn Fein first minister.
“We don’t like that outcome but we would do that if the Protocol is sorted out. So let us not go down a blind alley or a false argument as far as that is concerned.”
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