Debate contribution: Democratic Consent Resolution

Debate contribution by Mr Andrew Muir on 10 December 2024.

MLA

Mr Andrew Muir

Party at the time

Alliance Party

Date

10 December 2024

Type

Debate contribution (made as a minister)

Business

Private Members' Business

Heading

Democratic Consent Resolution

Assembly identifier

Official Report component 4716338

Read the official Assembly record

Text

I welcome the opportunity to speak on the motion. In doing so, I know that a number of the issues raised inside and outside the Chamber today and previously will soon, hopefully, be addressed by an ambitious and comprehensive UK-EU SPS veterinary agreement, which I now refer to as an "agri-food and drink agreement", which Alliance has long and consistently argued for. I cannot stress enough that the sooner we have such an agreement in place, the better it will be for Northern Ireland, the rest of the UK and, indeed, the European Union. It is therefore disappointing that we do not seem to have quickly moved on from what seems to be mere mood music. We are stuck in what I would describe as the Spice Girls problem. "What is the Spice Girls problem?", some of you may ask. Well, as the hit song, "Wannabe" goes:

"I'll tell you what I want, what I really really want. So, tell me what you want, what you really really want."

And so it continues, on repeat. If we really, really want to get with the EU on an agri-food and drink agreement, then, as the Spice Girls would say, we need to get our act together "and make it fast" and then "we could be just fine". The reality is that the EU and the 27 member states have many other matters on which to focus. The planned UK-EU summit in spring next year must be the moment when we change the tune and the negotiations get serious.

Yes, no problem.

Thank you, Madam Principal Deputy Speaker. I do appreciate the "endearment".

I will continue in a spirit of brevity, and, hopefully, others will follow. We all know the issues relating to an agri-food and drink agreement, and that is why the UK needs to face up to those and be able to progress the matter at pace, because the people of Northern Ireland, the UK and the EU will benefit from it. That is why the planned UK-EU summit in spring next year must be the moment when we change the tune and the negotiations get serious. Until an agri-food and drink agreement is in place, many aspects of the Windsor framework will remain; indeed, even the most ambitious deal would not negate all the aspects of the Windsor framework. Significant aspects will always be needed, such as those relating to the single electricity market. It would, however, make a big difference, and I will continue to push for a comprehensive deal to be concluded without delay. As a party, Alliance has always been clear that Brexit would pose considerable challenges for Northern Ireland. The direction pursued by the Tories and driven by Brexit purists has massively exacerbated those challenges. I make no secret of the fact that I am passionately pro-European. I believe in the EU and the principles on which it is founded. I want the benefits of being part of the world's largest trading bloc, as did Northern Ireland when we voted alongside Scotland to remain as part of the EU. Regrettably, we were removed, and the rest is history. Let me be clear. No one has ever said that the Windsor framework is perfect, but it reflects the best possible outcome in the context of a hard Brexit negotiated by the previous UK Government. We should also not forget that many of our colleagues in the rest of the UK, such as Scotland, would jump at the chance to have the dual market access afforded to us by the Windsor framework. To grasp the opportunity for Northern Ireland, we must move forward with stability and certainty. Nonsense such as the Northern Ireland Protocol Bill put forward by Liz Truss and others was not the answer to many of the problems. When you make international agreements, you need to stick to them. You must act in good faith; otherwise, how can you expect the EU to agree an agri-food and drink agreement when it relies on mutual trust? How else can you provide the certainty needed for businesses to thrive and attract investment? That is why I remain firmly committed to full, timely and faithful implementation of the Windsor framework. It is key. I understand that implementation is not without its challenges, especially — I speak as an MLA but also in the context of my dealings outside this place with the UK Government — the issues thrown up by the Windsor framework implementation regulations. There are challenges there. I put on record that I will continue to seek a positive, productive and, importantly, respectful working relationship with the UK Government. However, it takes two to tango. Recent attitudes of the UK Government are disappointing and rather adrift of the reset in relations that the Prime Minister promised. Perhaps we need a reset of the reset. I reassure Members that, as a Minister, I remain true to the commitment that I gave at my first Question Time, when I stated that my approach would be very different from what had gone before. It is important to implement the law and to focus on solutions, not to deliberately enlarge problems. As I said:

"My task at hand, and this is what I intend to do, is to make the job of managing EU exit exceedingly boring. We have had far too much drama." [Official Report (Hansard), 19 February 2024, p94, col 2].

Since I took up office in February, I have carried out substantial work in that manner, without fanfare or drama. I have been to Brussels twice, engaging and building alliances that are to the benefit of Northern Ireland at the highest levels in the European Parliament, the Commission and with permanent representatives. My engagement with the UK's Minister for the Constitution and EU Relations, Nick Thomas-Symonds, has been significant. I will continue to make representations to the UK Government on addressing veterinary medicines. I notice that positive progress is now being made. It is not concluded, but negotiations and engagement are where we should go. I successfully made the case for negotiated derogation and a resolution of issues on dental amalgams. Pardon the pun, but that proved that jaw-jaw is much better than stand-off and stalemate. With the needs of farmers in mind, I have been pushing for the better promotion of available workarounds in order to secure plant-protection products. I am also urging UK-EU alignment on a range of matters, including the emissions trading scheme and the carbon border adjustment mechanism, as well as a joint approach to the welfare of cats and dogs. That is just a taster of the areas into which I am putting delivery and solutions ahead of drama and deadlock. As I said, the Windsor framework is not perfect — it is far from it — but those who want to withdraw us from it ought to be honest about the consequences, because we would be in a different place today if they had thought more about the fallout of Brexit when they mis-sold it in 2016. Let us consider what would happen if we voted today to walk away from the Windsor framework and articles 5 to 10, plunged people and businesses in Northern Ireland into another long period of uncertainty and chaos and turned our backs on years of negotiations and agreements that were reached without any viable solution. That would be a disaster, particularly for our agri-food sector, and many of you know that. Our dairy industry would be devastated. Many representatives of the food industry in Northern Ireland put on record their clear and serious concerns about what would have happened if Liz Truss had succeeded in scrapping the protocol in 2022. One stated:

"Simply scrapping the protocol would only set us back. We must not forget that Brexit itself presented Northern Ireland food and drink companies with major challenges, most of which have been resolved by the protocol, whilst offering new opportunities".

Another stated:

"Our members have adapted well to these checks, and once they are complete, our members benefit from unfettered trade back to GB and also onwards to the EU. This provides significant benefits relative to other UK and EU regions for our members, and our members are anxious that those benefits are protected".

Whilst the previous DUP leader said that he could live with 40,000 jobs being lost as a result of Brexit, I cannot. I am not in the job to play politics with people's jobs and livelihoods. It is for the sake of our agri-food sector and for all the other reasons that I have outlined that I will vote yes later and will encourage others to do likewise. For those who are determined to strike up old, worn Brexit tunes that fell out of the charts a long time ago, I will, in closing, quote another Spice Girls song:

"Stop right now, thank you very much".

1,487 words. Text as published by the Northern Ireland Assembly.

Assessment

Not flagged

Jev’s structured answers

Assessed 21 October 2026 at 11:46 UTC by jev-1.13.0 (requested as typesafe/jev) under rubric 2026.10-r9, methodology 1.9.

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