What is the Northern Ireland Protocol and why does it matter?

Published

2 years ago

February 17, 2023

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The Northern Ireland Protocol has been at the heart of UK politics for the past few years.

Since the Brexit transition period ended on 31 December 2020, the protocol has been a point of friction between Westminster, Belfast and the EU.

In May 2022, Sinn Fein made history by becoming the first nationalist party to win the most seats in Northern Ireland Assembly elections, with the unionist DUP experiencing big losses.

The protocol was blamed for much of that turnaround in votes, with the DUP refusing to take part in government unless the protocol is abandoned or replaced, meaning there is no sitting government in Northern Ireland.

In a bid to break the impasse, a controversial bill put forward by Boris Johnson when he was prime minister which would have allowed the UK to change the protocol without the permission of the EU.

Since Rishi Sunak took over, relations have thawed slightly, with EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen saying in January 2023 that she has a “very trusted and excellent relationship” with the PM and their teams are “working together to find solutions”.

On 16 February, Mr Sunak travelled to Northern Ireland to meet local leaders amid mounting speculation a deal is within reach.

What is the Northern Ireland Protocol?

The UK and EU agreed to put the protocol in place after Brexit to avoid a hard border on the island of Ireland.

Lorries can continue to cross the border from Northern Ireland into the Republic without having paperwork and goods checked – as they did when the UK was in the EU.

Because Ireland remains in the EU, a new arrangement was needed to reflect the EU’s strict food rules and border checks.

The protocol states that Northern Ireland will remain part of the UK’s customs territory – so if the UK signs a free-trade deal with another country, Northern Irish goods would be included.

However, Northern Ireland has to stick to some EU rules to allow goods to move freely into the Republic and the rest of the EU.

Goods moving from Great Britain to Northern Ireland are not subject to a tariff unless they are “at risk” of being moved into the EU afterwards.

How does it work in practice?

Products from Great Britain entering Northern Ireland have had to undergo EU import procedures at the ports.

To carry out those checks, an Irish Sea border has effectively been imposed – which Boris Johnson promised would not happen.

This has resulted in delays and sometimes sparse supermarket shelves as some suppliers have decided to stop selling to Northern Ireland due to the new cost and difficulty.

There have also been problems with “medicines, on pets, on movements of live animals, on seeds, on plants and on many others”, former Brexit negotiator Lord Frost said last year.

Not all checks specified by the EU have been fully implemented, such as paperwork for supermarkets which was reduced during a temporary “grace period”.

However, those grace periods have been extended by the UK, which has resulted in a row with the EU as it says it is a breach of international law.

A breakthrough under Rishi Sunak?

Relations between the UK and the EU have become slightly more cordial since Mr Sunak became prime minister in October.

On 31 January 2023, The Times reported the EU has accepted a plan to avoid routine checks on goods going into Northern Ireland which will involve a green lane for goods from Great Britain that are staying in the region and a red lane to check and control products going on to Ireland and the rest of the EU.

However, a Foreign Office source suggested the report was speculative and officials were engaged in “intensive scoping talks” with Brussels.

Ms von der Leyen rubbished the claims and said “everything is negotiated at the very end” but they were “very constructive talks”.

On 16 February, Mr Sunak travelled to Belfast to meet Stormont leaders amid growing speculation that a Brexit deal is edging closer.

However, senior figures within the DUP and the European Research Group of the Tory party have warned that any deal must remove the oversight of the European Court of Justice (ECJ) in Northern Ireland as well as dealing with trading difficulties.

While it is understood the EU and UK are close to signing off a deal that would reduce protocol red tape on the movement of goods from Great Britain to Northern Ireland, there is no expectation that Brussels is willing to agree to end the application of EU law in the region.

The EU contends that a fundamental plank of the protocol – namely that Northern Ireland traders can sell freely into the European single market – is dependent on the operation of EU rules in the region.

What do the unionists think of the protocol?

All three unionist parties – the DUP, Ulster Unionist Party and Traditional Unionist Voice – are very much opposed as they argue the Irish Sea border threatens Northern Ireland’s place in the United Kingdom.

The DUP’s Paul Givan resigned as first minister over the matter in February 2022.

Current DUP leader Sir Jeffrey Donaldson said before the elections that his party would not re-enter the Stormont Executive – which requires the support of both nationalists and unionists to function – until Westminster acts to “protect Northern Ireland within the United Kingdom”.

The DUP has set out seven tests it says must be met before it supports any new deal on the protocol.

They include: no new checks on goods between GB and NI, compatibility with the Act of Union (all part of the UK should be on equal trade footing), avoiding any diversion of trade where NI customers have to switch to non-GB suppliers, no Irish Sea border, NI citizens to have a role in any new regulations that impact them, no new regulatory barriers between GB and NI unless agreed by NI Assembly, honouring the “letter and spirit” of NI’s constitutional position by requiring upfront consent of any diminution in constitutional status.

The party said it will only enter into a power-sharing government if other parties agree the protocol must be removed or replaced.

He has claimed the protocol has led to higher prices than in the rest of the UK, particularly for dairy products and chilled convenience foods.

What do nationalists think of the protocol?

The two main nationalist parties, Sinn Fein and the SDLP, back the protocol.

Sinn Fein is in favour of the protocol as it prevents a hard border on the island of Ireland, and they want the island to be one nation.

Its vice-president Michelle O’Neill, who is set to become first minister if a power-sharing deal can be reached, said it is also a “mitigation against Brexit”.

With Sinn Fein becoming the largest party in Stormont, nationalist views are likely to be bolstered on either side of the Irish border which could mean further resistance to changes to the protocol.

Can Northern Irish parties do anything about the protocol?

The Assembly can vote on whether to continue with the protocol in 2024, but would require cross-community support to extend the deal by eight years.

With the unionists very much opposed, this seems unlikely at the moment.

However, a simple majority vote in favour could extend the arrangement for a minimum of four years.

What is Article 16?

Article 16 is a clause intended to be used when the protocol is leading to serious “economic, societal or environmental difficulties that are liable to persist, or to diversion of trade”.

It allows either the UK or the EU to act unilaterally to suspend parts of the Brexit treaty to avoid such difficulties.

Invoking the article is considered a last resort when the parties have been unable to agree a joint approach to solving the problems.

The UK has raised the prospect of triggering Article 16 in the past, something Brussels has warned would “lead to instability and unpredictability”.

Any such move could prompt the EU to respond with retaliatory measures such as imposing import taxes on some areas of trade.

What is the Northern Ireland Protocol bill?

In May 2022. the government of then-PM Boris Johnson laid out plans to override the protocol with new legislation – and without the use of Article 16, citing the need to respond to the “very grave and serious situation” around Northern Ireland trade.

Then-foreign secretary Liz Truss said the bill would preserve elements of the protocol that are working, while fixing those that are not – the movement of goods, goods regulation, VAT, subsidy control and governance – in a way Article 16 cannot.

EU officials threatened legal action, with many others accusing the bill of breaking international law.

The UK government was leaning on a legal loophole called the “doctrine of necessity”, and claimed it could pass the bill because it faced “grave and imminent peril” as a result of the protocol.

However, Mr Sunak paused progress of the bill through parliament in December 2022 as efforts to secure a negotiated settlement with the EU ramped up.

World

‘At least 59 killed’ in Gaza after Israeli military opens fire near aid centre and carries out strikes

Published

16 hours ago

July 12, 2025

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'At least 59 killed' in Gaza after Israeli military opens fire near aid centre and carries out strikes

At least 59 Palestinians have reportedly been killed after the Israeli military opened fire near an aid centre in Gaza and carried out strikes across the territory.

The Red Cross, which operates a field hospital in Rafah, said 25 people were “declared dead upon arrival” and “six more died after admittance” following gunfire near an aid distribution centre in the southern Gazan city.

The humanitarian organisation added that it also received 132 patients “suffering from weapon-related injuries” after the incident.

The Red Cross said: “The overwhelming majority of these patients sustained gunshot wounds, and all responsive individuals reported they were attempting to access food distribution sites.”

The organisation said the number of deaths marks the hospital’s “largest influx of fatalities” since it began operations in May last year.

The IDF has said it fired “warning shots” near the aid distribution site but it was “not aware of injured individuals” as a result.

It said in a statement: “Earlier today, several suspects were identified approaching IDF troops operating in the Rafah area, posing a threat to the troops, hundreds of metres from the aid distribution site.

“IDF troops operated in order to prevent the suspects from approaching them and fired warning shots.”

Mother’s despair over shooting

Somia Alshaar told Sky News her 17-year-old son Nasir was shot dead while visiting the aid centre after she told him not to go.

She said: “He went to get us tahini so we could eat.

“He went to get flour. He told me ‘mama, we don’t have tahini. Today I’ll bring you flour. Even if it kills me, I will get you flour’.

“He left the house and didn’t return. They told me at the hospital: your son…’Oh God, oh Lord’.”

Asked where her son was shot, she replied: “In the chest. Yes, in the chest.”

‘A policy of mass murder’

Hassan Omran, a paramedic with Gaza’s ministry of health, told Sky News after the incident that humanitarian aid centres in Gaza are now “centres of mass death”.

Speaking in Khan Younis, he said: “Today, there were more than 150 injuries and more than 20 martyrs at the aid distribution centres… the Israeli occupation deliberately kills and commits genocide. The Israeli occupation is carrying out a policy of mass murder.

“They call people to come get their daily food, and then, when citizens arrive at these centres, they are killed in cold blood.

“All the victims have gunshot wounds to the head and chest, meaning the enemy is committing these crimes deliberately.”

Israel has rejected genocide accusations and denies targeting civilians.

‘Lies being peddled’

The Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), the controversial US and Israeli-backed group which operates the distribution centre near Rafah, said: “Hamas is claiming there was violence at our aid distribution sites today. False.

“Once again, there were no incidents at or in the immediate vicinity of our sites.

“But that’s not stopping some from spreading the lies being peddled by ‘officials’ at the Hamas-controlled Nasser Hospital.”

The Red Cross said its field hospital in Rafah has recorded more than 250 fatalities and treated more than 3,400 “weapon-wounded patients” since new food distribution sites were set up in Gaza on 27 May.

It comes after four children and two women were among at least 13 people who died in Deir al Balah, in central Gaza, after Israeli strikes pounded the area starting late on Friday, officials in Al Aqsa Martyrs hospital in the territory said.

Fifteen others died in Israeli airstrikes in Khan Younis, in southern Gaza, according to Nasser Hospital.

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) has not responded to a request for comment on the reported deaths.

Israeli has been carrying out attacks in Gaza since Hamas-led militants killed some 1,200 people and took 251 hostages on 7 October 2023.

Hamas still holds 50 hostages, with fewer than half of them believed to be alive, after most of the rest were released in ceasefire agreements or other deals.

Israel’s offensive in Gaza has killed more than 57,000 Palestinians, more than half of them women and children, according to Gaza’s health ministry, which does not distinguish between civilians and combatants in its count.

US President Donald Trump has said he is closing in on another ceasefire agreement that would see more hostages released and potentially wind down the war.

But after two days of talks this week with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, there were no signs of a breakthrough.

The latest fatalities in Gaza comes as a 20-year-old Palestinian-American man was beaten to death by settlers in the Israeli-occupied West Bank on Friday, the Palestinian Health ministry said.

Sayafollah Musallet, also known as Saif, was killed during a confrontation between Palestinians and settlers in Sinjil, north of Ramallah, the ministry said.

A second man, Hussein Al-Shalabi, 23, died after being shot in the chest.

Mr Musallet’s family, from Tampa Florida, has called on the US State Department to lead an “immediate investigation”.

A State Department spokesperson said it was aware of the incident but it had no further comment “out of respect for the privacy of the family and loved ones” of the reported victim.

The Israeli military said the confrontation broke out after Palestinians threw rocks at Israelis, lightly injuring them.

World

Backlash as Air India crash report points to possible human error – here’s what experts think

Published

19 hours ago

July 12, 2025

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Backlash as Air India crash report points to possible human error - here's what experts think

As investigators continue to piece together the full picture, early findings of the Air India crash are pointing towards a critical area of concern — the aircraft’s fuel control switches.

The flight, bound for London Gatwick, crashed just moments after taking off from Ahmedabad airport on 12 June, killing all but one of the 242 people on board the plane and at least 19 on the ground.

According to the preliminary report by India’s Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB), the two engine fuel control switches on the plane were moved from the “RUN” to “CUTOFF” position.

These switches control fuel flow to the engines and should only be used when the aircraft is on ground, first to start the engines before a flight and later to shut them down at the gate.

They are designed so they’re unlikely to be changed accidentally, pointing to possible human error on the Air India flight.

The findings include the final conversation between the pilots and show there was confusion in the cockpit as well.

When one pilot asked the other why he cut off the fuel, he responded to say he did not do so.

Moments later, a Mayday call was made from the cockpit, but the plane could not regain power quickly enough and plummeted to the ground.

Captain Amit Singh, founder of Safety Matters Foundation, an organisation dedicated to aviation safety, told Sky News: “This exchange indicates that the engine shutdowns were uncommanded.

“However, the report does not identify the cause – whether it was crew error, mechanical malfunction, or electronic failure.”

Previous warning of ‘possible fuel switch issue’

“The Boeing 787 uses spring-loaded locking mechanisms on its fuel control switches to prevent accidental movement,” Mr Singh explained.

But a previous bulletin from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) “warned that these switches might be installed with the locking feature disengaged,” he said.

This could “make them susceptible to unintended movement due to vibration, contact, or quadrant flex”, he added.

Speaking to Sky News, aviation expert Terry Tozner said: “The take-off was normal, the aircraft rotated at the correct speed left the ground and almost immediately, the cut-off switches were selected to off, one then two.

“But nobody has said with any clarity whether or not the latch mechanisms worked okay on this particular aircraft. So we can only assume that they were in normal working order.”

In India, there has been a backlash over the findings, with some saying the report points to pilot error without much information and almost dismisses the possibility of a mechanical or electric failure.

Indian government responds

India’s civil aviation minister Kinjarapu Ram Mohan Naidu has been quick to respond, saying: “We care for the welfare and the wellbeing of pilots so let’s not jump to any conclusions at this stage, let us wait for the final report.

“I believe we have the most wonderful workforce of pilots and crew in the whole world.”

Both pilots were experienced, with around 19,000 flying hours between them, including more than 9,000 on Boeing 787s.

The report says the aircraft maintenance checks were on schedule and that there are no signs of fuel contamination or a bird strike.

So far, no safety recommendations have been issued to Boeing or General Electric, the engine manufacturers.

Concern over destroyed flight recorder

Mr Singh said “the survivability of the flight recorders also raises concern”.

The plane’s rear flight recorder, designed to withstand impact forces of 3,400 Gs and temperatures of 1,100C for 60 minutes, “was damaged beyond recovery”.

“The Ram Air Turbine (RAT), which deploys automatically when both engines fail and power drops below a threshold, was observed as deployed in CCTV footage when the aircraft was approximately 60ft above ground level,” Mr Singh said.

“This suggests that the dual engine failure likely occurred before the official timestamp of 08:08:42 UTC, implying a possible discrepancy.”

Mr Singh said it was also “of particular note” that the plane’s emergency locator transmitter (ELT) did not send any signal after the crash.

“Was the ELT damaged, unarmed, mis-wired, or malfunctioning?” he said.

The report has generated more questions than answers on topics including human error, power source failures and mechanical or electrical malfunction.

The final report is expected to take a year. Meanwhile, families grapple with the unimaginable loss of loved ones in one of the worst disasters in India’s aviation history.

World

Donald Trump announces 30% tariff on imports from EU

Published

23 hours ago

July 12, 2025

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Donald Trump announces 30% tariff on imports from EU

Donald Trump has announced he will impose a 30% tariff on imports from the European Union from 1 August.

The tariffs could make everything from French cheese and Italian leather goods to German electronics and Spanish pharmaceuticals more expensive in the US.

Mr Trump has also imposed a 30% tariff on goods from Mexico, according to a post from his Truth Social account.

Announcing the moves in separate letters on the account, the president said the US trade deficit was a national security threat.

In his letter to the EU, he wrote: “We have had years to discuss our trading relationship with The European Union, and we have concluded we must move away from these long-term, large, and persistent, trade Deficits, engendered by your tariff, and non-Tariff, policies, and trade barriers.

“Our relationship has been, unfortunately, far from reciprocal.”

In his letter to Mexico, Mr Trump said he did not think the country had done enough to stop the US from turning into a “narco-trafficking playground”.

The president of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, said today that the EU could adopt “proportionate countermeasures” if the US proceeds with imposing the 30% tariff.

Ms von der Leyen, who heads the EU’s executive arm, said in a statement that the bloc remained ready “to continue working towards an agreement by Aug 1”.

“Few economies in the world match the European Union’s level of openness and adherence to fair trading practices,” she continued.

“We will take all necessary steps to safeguard EU interests, including the adoption of proportionate countermeasures if required.”

Ms von der Leyen has also said imposing tariffs on EU exports would “disrupt essential transatlantic supply chains”.

Meanwhile, Dutch Prime Minister Dick Schoof said on the X social media platform that Mr Trump’s announcement was “very concerning and not the way forward”.

He added: “The European Commission can count on our full support. As the EU we must remain united and resolute in pursuing an outcome with the United States that is mutually beneficial.”

Mexico’s economy ministry said a bilateral working group aims to reach an alternative to the 30% US tariffs before they are due to take effect.

The country was informed by the US that it would receive a letter about the tariffs, the ministry’s statement said, adding that Mexico was negotiating.

Trump’s tariff threats and delays

On his so-called “liberation day” in April, Mr Trump unleashed “reciprocal tariffs” on many of America’s trade partners.

The US president said he was targeting countries with which America has a trade imbalance.

However, since then he’s backed down in a spiralling tit-for-tat tariff face-off with China, and struck a deal with the UK.

The US imposed a 20% tariff on imported goods from the EU in April but it was later paused and the bloc has since been paying a baseline tariff of 10% on goods it exports to the US.

In May, while the US and EU where holding trade negotiations, Mr Trump threated to impose a 50% tariff on the bloc as talks didn’t progress as he would have liked.

However, he later announced he was delaying the imposition of that tariff while negotiations over a trade deal took place.

As of earlier this week, the EU’s executive commission, which handles trade issues for the bloc’s 27-member nations, said its leaders were still hoping to strike a trade deal with the Trump administration.

Without one, the EU said it was prepared to retaliate with tariffs on hundreds of American products, ranging from beef and auto parts to beer and Boeing airplanes.