Debate contribution: Windsor Framework
Debate contribution by Mrs Ciara Ferguson on .
- MLA
- Mrs Ciara Ferguson
- Party at the time
- Sinn Féin
- Date
- 8 September 2025
- Type
- Debate contribution
- Business
- Private Members' Business
- Heading
- Windsor Framework
- Assembly identifier
- Official Report component 5068171
Read the official Assembly record
Text
It has to be said that, to me, the motion reads as little more than the TUV tail wagging the DUP dog, to be honest. Members, as you are all well aware, next June will mark a decade — 10 years — since the Brexit referendum in which the majority of people in the North voted to remain in the European Union. The majority of our citizens in the North were not beguiled by those who found themselves at the behest of Boris and the Brexiteers, yet, here we are again, listening to a DUP motion that refuses to acknowledge that the challenges about which they now complain are in fact the very outworkings of that failed project, which we were all well warned about. Economists, commentators, academics and organisations all warned of the many potential negative economic and social consequences of Brexit.
No, thank you. Sorry, I want to move on. Some even defined the Brexiteers' choice to advocate a project that would increase trade barriers and hinder free movement as supporting self-inflicted recession. Brexit is a child of the DUP. You were repeatedly warned that it would be bad for the North and our economy. If we cast our minds back to the publication of a report by the Department for the Economy in July 2019 that warned of a possible 40,000-plus job losses, we remember that one DUP politician said that they could live with that. Another stated:
"I wouldn't care what sort of situation I face as long as I'm out of Europe."
Those who so whimsically dismissed the qualitative advice from so many sectors have a brass neck when they continue to complain about the outworking of the wheels that they set in motion. Our electorate voted overwhelmingly to remain. Our people know only too well the continued impact of Brexit on our economy, trade, small businesses, opportunities for students, our young people and even the stronger collective vigilance concerning human rights and standards in a post-Brexit era. Equally, however, our people know that unionism is no longer the monolith that it once was. Its electoral majority in the Assembly and at Westminster is gone. A majority in our local Assembly has instead voted to continue our post-Brexit trade arrangements and recognise the need to maintain the hard-fought and hard-won protections against Brexit's worst excesses.
390 words. Text as published by the Northern Ireland Assembly.
Assessment
Jev’s structured answers met the documented threshold for “not flagged”.
- Overall probability that the activity is being used to promote, exploit or escalate an identity-based controversy: 0.31 (flagging needs at least 0.70; at or below 0.30 is not flagged).
- None of the five culture-war criteria was met (each was below 0.60).
- No identity-based framing was identified (0.65).
- Subject area: Constitutional question, Brexit, the Windsor Framework and sovereignty.
- The overall probability was low and the text did not adopt any identity-based framing.
This is an AI-generated assessment of the text, made against published criteria. It is not a finding of fact about the MLA or their intentions. The Assembly record itself is the fact.
Jev’s structured answers
| Question | Probability | Met? |
|---|---|---|
| Identity framing | 0.42 | No |
| Sectarian or communal antagonism | 0.11 | No |
| Cultural grievance politics | 0.02 | No |
| Dog-whistle messaging | 0.39 | No |
| Controversy escalation | 0.16 | No |
| Legitimate policy scrutiny | 0.30 | No |
| Overall judgement | 0.31 | Between thresholds |
| Option | Probability |
|---|---|
| No identity-based framing (chosen) | 0.65 |
| Reports or questions it | 0.00 |
| Criticises or condemns it | 0.02 |
| Adopts it | 0.33 |
| Subject | Probability |
|---|---|
| Constitutional question, Brexit, the Windsor Framework and sovereignty | 0.93 |
| No identity-related subject | 0.05 |
| Sectarianism, hate crime and community relations | 0.01 |
| Another identity-related subject | 0.01 |
| Flags, emblems, symbols, names and memorials | 0.00 |
Assessed 21 October 2026 at 12:57 UTC by jev-1.13.0 (requested as typesafe/jev) under rubric 2026.10-r9, methodology 1.9.
Disagree with this assessment?
Classifications can be challenged. A person reads every challenge, and any change is recorded publicly above with its reason.