NI Protocol: UK plays down imminent breakthrough

Foreign Secretary James Cleverly has played down expectations of a deal soon over the Northern Ireland Protocol.

Mr Cleverley said he does not want people to get the idea “we are on the cusp of some amazing breakthrough”.

He told a committee of MPs on Tuesday that while there is a better atmosphere with the European Union there was still “serious work to do”.

Giving evidence to the European Scrutiny Committee, he said he was trying to “manage expectations”.

“I don’t want people to be defeatist, but I also don’t want people to run away with the idea that we’re just on the cusp of some amazing breakthrough,” he said.

“[Something] that was there all the time if only we’d looked a little bit harder”.

Last week, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said he was confident that “with goodwill and pragmatism” a breakthrough can happen in negotiations over the Northern Ireland Protocol.

He was speaking after talks with Taoiseach (Irish Prime Minister) Micheál Martin following a meeting of the British-Irish Council.

Mr Martin said said there was a “window of opportunity” but declined to be drawn on how long negotiations could last.

The protocol is a part of the UK-EU Brexit deal that keeps Northern Ireland aligned with some EU trade rules.

It keeps Northern Ireland in the EU’s single market for goods, avoiding the need for a hard border with the Irish Republic after Brexit.

However, it also creates a new trade border between Northern Ireland and the rest of the UK, something the EU accepts is causing difficulties for many businesses.

Some unionists say it is also undermining Northern Ireland’s place in the UK.

The UK plans to override most of the agreement if the EU does not agree to changes.

Mr Cleverly said if an auditor asked him to point to a spreadsheet and show where progress was being made he would struggle, but added “I think we are heading in the right direction”.

“The ingredients are there but we shouldn’t rush to the conclusion, therefore, everything is about to come good because there is still serious work to do”.

Asked where the protocol stood on the UK Government’s list of priorities, the Foreign Secretary said “its up there, its on the podium”.

He said it was not a peripheral trade issue but was about showing Northern Ireland is as much a part of the union as his own constituency of Braintree in Essex.