Ulster Brexit checks will be scrapped as new DUP leader vows to ‘strip away’ parts of the Northern Ireland protocol
- Edwin Poots called to go ‘back to drawing board’ on Northern Ireland protocol
- In his first interview since his election on Friday, he vowed to fix issue in 90 days
- Row centres on protocol in the Brexit deal, which prevents checks at border
Controversial Brexit checks in Northern Ireland will be scrapped this summer, the new leader of the DUP has pledged.
In his first interview since his election on Friday, Edwin Poots yesterday said it was time to go ‘back to the drawing board’ on the Northern Ireland protocol.
Vowing to fix the issue in his first 90 days, Mr Poots told the province’s Sunday Life newspaper: ‘If there are grey areas and opportunities, we will certainly seek to strip away elements of the protocol.’ But, to ‘take things forward’, he added that it needs to be ‘fundamentally changed [or] removed’.
Edwin Poots, pictured, yesterday said it was time to go ‘back to the drawing board’ on the Northern Ireland protocol
The row centres on the Northern Ireland protocol in the Brexit deal, which prevents checks at the border between Ireland and Northern Ireland
On Saturday the Daily Mail revealed that Boris Johnson is ready to suspend Northern Ireland Brexit checks within weeks over fears they will destabilise the region.
The row centres on the Northern Ireland protocol in the Brexit deal, which prevents checks at the border between Ireland and Northern Ireland.
The EU can still make checks on goods crossing from Great Britain to Northern Ireland which ministers have warned is causing trade disruption.
Writing in The Mail on Sunday yesterday, Cabinet Office minister Lord Frost warned that political stability in Ulster was being put ‘at risk’ by the EU’s hardline approach. He urged Brussels to ‘stop the point-scoring’, adding they could then ‘build a new relationship’.