A DUP Stormont minister says he has sought legal advice on whether he can unilaterally halt Brexit checks at Northern Ireland ports.
Agriculture Minister Edwin Poots, whose officials are responsible for carrying out Northern Ireland Protocol checks, said he expects to receive the opinion of senior counsel “imminently”.
Mr Poots sought the legal advice after a failed bid to secure the wider approval of the Stormont Executive to continue checks on agri-food produce arriving in Northern Ireland from Great Britain.
The minister says that in the absence of Executive approval he no longer has legal cover to continue the documentary checks and physical inspections.
His move to seek a ministerial vote at the Executive last week was branded a stunt by other parties.
They insist the Executive has already agreed that Mr Poots’ department has responsibility for carrying out the checks and he does not have the authority to halt processes that are required under the terms of the Brexit Withdrawal Agreement, an international treaty.
The dispute centres on whether Mr Poots requires the authority of the wider Stormont Executive to conduct the checks required under the agreement’s Northern Ireland Protocol.
Claiming recent court rulings have clarified that such authority is required, Mr Poots tried to secure the approval of the Executive by asking for the matter to be considered at last Thursday’s meeting.
He did so in the knowledge that if the issue was elevated to the Executive, his party could at that point exercise a veto to block approval for the checks.
I'm worried that the European Union has driven a coach and horses through the peace agreement that exists in Northern Ireland
Realising that, Sinn Fein used its own veto to prevent the issue from getting on the agenda.
Mr Poots said he would make a decision on whether to halt the checks once he considers the opinion of the senior counsel.
“I expect to receive senior counsel advice on that imminently and I will take my decision shortly after I consider that,” he told BBC Radio Ulster.
“If the advice leads me to a conclusion that the staff need to have the legal basis to operate there, which stems from having Executive approval, then I’ll have to act on that.”
The DUP has repeatedly threatened to withdraw ministers from the Stormont Executive if major changes to the Northern Ireland Protocol are not secured.
Such a move would prevent the administration from functioning properly and would remove its power to take significant decisions.
Mr Poots blamed the protocol for creating instability within the powersharing institutions.
“I am worried about what the Northern Ireland Protocol is doing to the Executive, I’m worried that the European Union has driven a coach and horses through the peace agreement that exists in Northern Ireland,” he said.
“And I’m worried that one section of the community (unionist) seems to be considered of less importance than another section of the community, which is not what the agreement was about, where we were all to have an equal say and try and find consensual views and so forth.
“So European Union has played fast and loose with the peace process and it is up to those of us who are engaged in the Northern Ireland Executive to ensure that the European Union recognise the harm that they’re doing to the peace process.”
On the prospect of Stormont collapsing, Mr Poots added: “What we have currently is entirely unacceptable and if people think that is something that we’re just going to allow to grind on and on and on then that’s not going to happen.”
The minister said “time and space” had been afforded to UK and EU negotiators to find a resolution.
He said implementation of last year’s UK Government command paper on changes to the protocol would “help greatly”.
“But the European Union negotiators have been dragging their feet and there’s a consequence for that and that consequence is coming down the line, and it’s coming down the line very, very fast.
“This situation cannot go on much longer. If we’re not into days, then it’s weeks, but my suspicion is it’s more like days.”
