Northern Ireland Protocol blasted as 'totally disproportionate' - Kidderminster Shuttle

Arlene Foster said the Northern Ireland Protocol has led to a “completely disproportionate situation” where trade between Great Britain and Northern Ireland has been “severely disrupted”.

“What we have is a completely disproportionate situation where trade between Great Britain and Northern Ireland has been severely disrupted.

“At the beginning of January we had lorries which were having real difficulties coming back into Northern Ireland, we had extra costs put on by Great Britain businesses selling to Northern Ireland, some of them have actually stopped sending goods to Northern Ireland, frankly because they can’t be bothered with the hassle of filling out forms and having to complete a whole range of forms which weren’t there before.

“Even with grace periods we still have 20% of the whole European Union checks happening between GB and Northern Ireland.

“It’s totally disproportionate and it needs to be sorted out.”Mrs Foster called for a “realistic and sustainable” replacement to the protocol.

Published On: Wed, 07 Apr 2021 14:42:58 GMT