Post-Brexit checks on goods between Britain and Northern Ireland set to end under new plans
The UK government is tabling legislation to end post-Brexit checks on goods moving between Great Britain and Northern Ireland.
Significantly, the Withdrawal Act will also be amended, meaning EU law will no longer apply automatically in Northern Ireland.
The details are contained in a government document which effectively details the deal to restore power-sharing at Stormont.
The 80-page document comes in three parts: one setting out changes to the law and their impact, an annex on the constitutional context, and a second annex on additional measures to strengthen Northern Ireland’s place in the UK.
Those measures include an East-West Council, a new trade body and one UK cabinet meeting in Northern Ireland annually.
The changes will have an impact on the Windsor Framework, the deal Rishi Sunak signed with the European Union.
But sources close to negotiations say they “will come as no surprise” to Brussels, which has been kept informed.
Words like “flexibility” and “pragmatism” are being used a lot by players on all sides, as well as the feeling that “conversations have produced trust”.
A Commons vote on the details contained in the legislation is expected tomorrow.
The legal changes reflect what has been described as “the democratic deficit”, giving Stormont a greater role in scrutiny.
That strengthens the Democratic Unionist Party’s (DUP) argument for a restoration of the power-sharing government at the heart of the peace process.
The document, titled Safeguarding The Union, sets out the government’s intentions of what it wants to achieve in Northern Ireland, which has been without government since 2022.
The DUP had collapsed power-sharing at Stormont in protest against post-Brexit trade arrangements, which left a trade border down the Irish Sea and additional checks on goods travelling between Great Britain and Northern Ireland.
Westminster has recently been locked in talks with the DUP aimed at securing the return of Stormont in exchange for addressing some of the DUP’s concerns.
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Checks between Britain & NI to end
In the early hours of Tuesday morning, it was revealed an agreement had been reached, paving the way for the assembly to get up and running again.
And following the publication of the government document, DUP leader Sir Jeffrey Donaldson said the automatic appliance of EU laws to Northern Ireland would end.
“At the moment EU law automatically applies to Northern Ireland, whether it is a change to EU law or a new EU law,” he said.
“Under the protocol we had no say, the Assembly was not consulted on that, there was no democratic scrutiny in Northern Ireland of those laws, they just automatically applied. These new arrangements end that.”
Sir Jeffrey said Article 7A of the Withdrawal Act would be amended to “end the automatic pipeline of EU law applying to Northern Ireland”.
He said that meant Northern Ireland “will have new democratic scrutiny mechanisms in the Assembly”.
“The Assembly will be able to scrutinise any new laws that are coming forward. Assembly members will be able to say if they think that law is going to be harmful to Northern Ireland and our ability to trade, in other words, divergence.
“The Assembly will be able to say no, that law should not apply in Northern Ireland and the UK government has the right to veto that law on behalf of Northern Ireland.
“There is a new process that is being put in place that ends the dynamic alignment of EU law in Northern Ireland.”
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David Blevins live on publication of command paper
Speaking in the Commons, Northern Ireland Secretary Chris Heaton-Harris said the deal was the “right one for Northern Ireland and for the union”.
He said many of the announcements were due to a “significant period” of negotiations between Westminster and the DUP, as he praised Sir Jeffrey’s “determination, fortitude and tact”.
“With this package it is now time for elected representatives in Northern Ireland to come together, to end the two years of impasse and start work again in the interests of the people that elected them.”
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Northern Ireland Assembly: What is power-sharing and why is the system used?
Responding, Labour’s shadow Northern Ireland Secretary Hilary Benn said his party would vote in favour of the government’s plans and praised the “tireless efforts” of Mr Heaton-Harris.
He also paid tribute to Sir Jeffrey’s “courageous and decisive leadership”, saying that despite facing “abuse”, he “consistently and persuasively made his case for change while always being clear that he wanted to return to government with an agreement that was acceptable to all communities”.
However, there were signs of disagreement within the DUP over the deal, with Sammy Wilson, the DUP MP for East Antrim, saying “the fact remains that in Northern Ireland, there are still EU-manned border posts being built which will create a border within our own country”.
“And when the Northern Ireland Assembly sits, ministers and Assembly members will be expected by law to adhere to and implement laws which are made in Brussels, which they have no say over, no ability to amend, no ability to stop.”
He hit out at “the spineless, weak-kneed, Brexit-betraying government” whom he accused of “refusing to take on the EU and its interference in Northern Ireland”.
Eight men have been arrested by the Metropolitan Police in two unconnected but “significant” terrorism investigations.
In one operation on Saturday, counter-terror officers arrested five men – four of whom are Iranian nationals – as they swooped in on various locations around the country. All are in police custody.
The Met said the arrests related to a “suspected plot to target a specific premises”.
In an update shortly after midnight, the force said: “Officers have been in contact with the affected site to make them aware and provide relevant advice and support, but for operational reasons, we are not able to provide further information at this time.”
Commander Dominic Murphy, head of the Met’s Counter Terrorism Command, said: “Counter-terrorism policing, supported by police and colleagues from across the country, have conducted arrests in two really significant operations, both of which have been designed to keep the public safe from threats.
“There are several hundred officers and staff working on this investigation, and we will work very hard to ensure we understand the threats to the wider public.”
He refused to say if the plot was related to Israel, but described it as “certainly significant” and said “it is unusual for us to conduct this scale of activity”.
He also asked the public to “avoid speculation and some of the things that are being posted online”.
MI5 director general Ken McCallum said in October that the intelligence agency had responded to 20 “potentially lethal” Iran-backed plots since 2022. He warned of the risk of an “increase or broadening of Iranian state aggression in the UK”.
Read more: Terror arrests came in context of raised warnings about Iran
Children ‘petrified’ by armed police
Rochdale resident Kyle Warren, who witnessed one of the arrests at a neighbouring house, said his children had been playing in the garden when they came running into the house, saying a man in a mask had told them to go inside.
“Obviously, I was a bit worried,” Mr Warren told Sky News’ Lisa Dowd, and so he went into the garden to investigate.
“As we’ve come out, we just heard a massive bang, seen loads of police everywhere with guns, shouting at us to get inside the house.”
Kyle Warren said his children were ‘petrified’
From upstairs in his house, he then heard “loads of shouting in the house” and saw a man being pulled out of the back of the house, “dragged down the side entry and thrown into all the bushes and then handcuffed”.
There were about 20 to 30 officers with guns, he believes.
“It’s just shocking, really. You don’t expect it on your doorstep.”
His daughters were “petrified… I don’t think they’ve ever seen a gun, so to see 20 masked men with guns running round was quite scary for them”.
Mr Warren, who only moved into his house a year ago, said he had “never really seen anyone going in or out” of the house and actually thought it was empty.
One suspect was arrested in Cheadle Hulme, Greater Manchester. Pic: Sarah Cash
One suspect was arrested in Cheadle Hulme, Greater Manchester. Pic: Sarah Cash
Arrests and searches around the country
The Met added officers were carrying out searches at a number of addresses in the Greater Manchester, London and Swindon areas in connection with the investigation.
It said those detained were:
• A 29-year-old man arrested in the Swindon area
• A 46-year-old man arrested in west London
• A 29-year-old man arrested in the Stockport area
• A 40-year-old man arrested in the Rochdale area
• A man whose age was not confirmed arrested in the Manchester area.
A 29-year-old man was arrested in the Stockport area
Terror arrests in separate investigation
Police also arrested three further Iranian nationals in London on Saturday as part of another, unrelated counter-terror investigation.
The suspects were detained under section 27 of the National Security Act 2023, which allows police to arrest those suspected of being “involved in foreign power threat activity”.
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Home Secretary Yvette Cooper said: “These were two major operations that reflect some of the biggest counter state threat and counter terrorism operations that we have seen in recent years.
“This reflects the complexity of the kinds of challenges to our national security that we continue to face.”
Earlier, she thanked police and security services in a statement, and called the incidents “serious events that demonstrate the ongoing requirement to adapt our response to national security threats”.
Last year, the government placed the whole of the Iranian state – including its intelligence services – on the enhanced tier of the new foreign influence registration scheme.
It means anyone asked by Iran to carry out actions for the state must declare it, or face prison time.
UK
Terror arrests came in context of raised warnings about Iran, with ongoing chaos in its own backyard
These are two separate and unrelated investigations by counter-terror officers.
But the common thread is nationality – seven out of the eight people arrested are Iranian.
And that comes in the context of increased warnings from government and the security services about Iranian activity on British soil.
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Counter terror officers raid property
Last year, the director general of MI5, Ken McCallum, said his organisation and police had responded to 20 Iran-backed plots presenting potentially lethal threats to British citizens and UK residents since January 2022.
He linked that increase to the ongoing situation in Iran’s own backyard.
“As events unfold in the Middle East, we will give our fullest attention to the risk of an increase in – or a broadening of – Iranian state aggression in the UK,” he said.
The implication is that even as Iran grapples with a rapidly changing situation in its own region, having seen its proxies, Hezbollah in Lebanon and Hamas in Gaza, decimated and itself coming under Israeli attack, it may seek avenues further abroad.
The government reiterated this warning only a few weeks ago, with security minister Dan Jarvis addressing parliament.
“The threat from Iran sits in a wider context of the growing, diversifying and evolving threat that the UK faces from malign activity by a number of states,” Jarvis said.
“The threat from states has become increasingly interconnected in nature, blurring the lines between: domestic and international; online and offline; and states and their proxies.
“Turning specifically to Iran, the regime has become increasingly emboldened, asserting itself more aggressively to advance their objectives and undermine ours.”
Read more:
Anybody working for Iran in UK must register or face jail, government announces
As part of that address, Jarvis highlighted the National Security Act 2023, which “criminalises assisting a foreign intelligence service”, among other things.
So it was notable that this was the act used in one of this weekend’s investigations.
The suspects were detained under section 27 of the same act, which allows police to arrest those suspected of being “involved in foreign power threat activity”.
Those powers are apparently being put to use.
UK
Pictured: Boy killed in Gateshead industrial estate fire – 14 children arrested on suspicion of manslaughter
Tributes have been paid to 14-year-old Layton Carr who died in a fire at an industrial estate.
Eleven boys and three girls, aged between 11 and 14 years, have been arrested on suspicion of manslaughter after the incident in Gateshead on Friday. They remain in police custody.
Police were alerted to a fire at Fairfield industrial park in the Bill Quay area
Firefighters raced to Fairfield industrial park in the Bill Quay area shortly after 8pm, putting out the blaze a short time later.
Police then issued an appeal for a missing boy, Layton Carr, who was believed to be in the area at the time.
In a statement, the force said that “sadly, following searches, a body believed to be that of 14-year-old Layton Carr was located deceased inside the building”.
Layton’s next of kin have been informed and are being supported by specialist officers, police added.
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Teenager dies in industrial estate fire
A fundraising page on GoFundMe has been set up to help Layton’s mother pay for funeral costs.
Organiser Stephanie Simpson said: “The last thing Georgia needs to stress trying to pay for a funeral for her Boy Any donations will help thank you.”
One tribute in a Facebook post read: “Can’t believe I’m writing this my nephew RIP Layton 💔 forever 14 you’ll be a massive miss, thinking of my sister and 2 beautiful nieces right now.”
Another added: “My boy ❤️ my baby cousin, my Layton. Nothing will ever come close to the pain I feel right now. Forever 14. I’ll miss you sausage.”
A third said: “Rest in peace big lad such a beautiful soul taken far to soon my thoughts are with you Gee stay strong girl hear for u always.”
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Detective Chief Inspector Louise Jenkins, of Northumbria Police, also said: “This is an extremely tragic incident where a boy has sadly lost his life.”
She added that the force’s “thoughts are with Layton’s family as they begin to attempt to process the loss of their loved one”.
They are working to establish “the full circumstances surrounding the incident” and officers will be in the area to “offer reassurance to the public”, she added.
A cordon remains in place at the site while police carry out enquiries.
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