MPs will get their first opportunity on Friday to debate a bill aimed at overturning the controversial trading arrangements agreed to by the last government and the EU.
Jim Allister’s private member bill intends to “solve the thorny issues of the Irish Sea border” by replacing the Windsor Framework deal with a solution that he said “restores the integrity of the United Kingdom”.
The debate comes ahead of a vote in the Northern Ireland Assembly on the Windsor Framework due next week.
The process, known as the democratic consent motion, was contained in the UK and EU’s 2020 Withdrawal Agreement to give local politicians a say on the rules.
The bill has been co-sponsored by all of Northern Ireland’s unionist MPs alongside the former Conservative leader Iain Duncan Smith, Labour’s Graham Stringer, and Reform UK’s Nigel Farage and Richard Tice.
Allister said that the bill was about fixing the foundations within the United Kingdom and the UK/EU relationship which had been “disrupted”.
“If the foundations aren’t right, then there is no longer long-term stability for Northern Ireland, the United Kingdom or the European Union in the present arrangements,” he told BBC News NI’s Good Morning Ulster programme.
Allister said that his bill addresses “the absurdity of parts of our country having different democratic rights compared to others”.
“The 1.9 million people who live in Northern Ireland are covered by 300 areas of law that are the remit of the European Union,” he said.
“This means that for the first time, people of this country have had their democratic rights removed, as they have no influence on law that applies to them.”
Allister believes the European Union (Withdrawal Arrangements) Bill will create “a system of mutual enforcement” ensuring no physical customs barriers are required.
“We will set the stage for possible trade deals with the US, which under the current situation will be almost impossible, given the subjection of part of the UK to EU law and control.
“The USA will want certainty in any trade deal with the UK, and that requires the closing of the back door into the EU which the present Windsor Framework creates,” the North Antrim MP added.
Private Members’ Bills are public bills introduced by MPs and Lords who are not government ministers.
As with other public bills, their purpose is to change the law as it applies to the general population.
A minority of Private Members’ Bills become law.
There are three ways in which an MP can table a Private Members’ Bill, but ballot bills have the best chance of becoming law, as they get priority for the limited amount of debating time available.
