An overhauled Brexit deal for Northern Ireland keeps the border down the Irish Sea and there will still not be free trade within the United Kingdom, former deputy DUP leader Lord Dodds has said. He lambasted a move by the UK Government enabling the expansion and enhancement of border control posts at ports in the region, which he argued would serve to “cement in the reality” of the situation, while other critics at Westminster branded it “a humiliation”.
But ministers insist the improvement of the facilities needed to be undertaken in any scenario “with the primary purpose of controlling goods travelling via Northern Ireland into the European Union”. Lord Dodds’ comments about the Windsor Framework are likely to cause concern in Downing Street, which hoped the agreement would restore powersharing at Stormont.
There was also criticism by Baroness Hoey, a Northern Irish Brexit supporter and former Labour MP, who argued Prime Minister Rishi Sunak had “over-egged” the deal and was treating people like they were “stupid”.
