Member's statement: Windsor Framework
Member's statement by Mr Phillip Brett on .
- MLA
- Mr Phillip Brett
- Party at the time
- Democratic Unionist Party
- Date
- 24 November 2025
- Type
- Member's statement
- Business
- Members' Statements
- Heading
- Windsor Framework
- Assembly identifier
- Official Report component 5253918
Read the official Assembly record
Text
Last week, the House, led by the rigorous implementers, rejected our call for work to continue to sort out the impact of the Windsor framework and the failure of the UK Government to live up to the commitments that they made to the people of Northern Ireland. Despite that, today's announcement by the Treasury that it will invest yet another £16 million into trying to sort out the impact of the Windsor framework is yet again justification for the stance taken by all unionists on these Benches that the Windsor framework continues to damage all the people of Northern Ireland. No amount of funding from UK taxpayers will remove the continued imposition of EU law in Northern Ireland without the consent of the people or, indeed, the elected representatives of the people of Northern Ireland. Sixteen million pounds of funding will not remove the requirement for sanitary and phytosanitary (SPS) checks, and £16 million of funding will not remove the ridiculous scenario that all goods moving from GB into Northern Ireland are automatically treated as "at risk". I welcome part of today's announcement by the Government, however: the part about funding for Intertrade UK. Intertrade UK was created outside the remit of both the protocol and the Windsor framework and was a result of the work and negotiations undertaken by this party. Some claimed that no such body could be created and that no such body would have any funding to deliver the requirement to strengthen and maintain the internal market of the United Kingdom. The announcement today by the Government that that body will receive the funding that it needs and deserves as it continues to expose the impact of the Windsor framework in Northern Ireland is hugely welcome. It shows what can happen if we continue to stand up and speak up not just for unionists but for businesses. Week after week, businesses come to the Committee for the Economy, where they receive tea and sympathy from the parties opposite, yet, when those parties have an opportunity in the House to send a clear and united message, they renege on that. The Government have shown the need to implement fully the requirements of the restoration of the Assembly. This party continues to hold the Government's feet to the fire to implement those requirements in full, because this party and no unionists will continue to allow an Irish Sea border to remain and go unchallenged.
406 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: 0.26 (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).
- Assessed as legitimate policy scrutiny (0.73).
- No identity-based framing was identified (0.82).
- Subject area: Constitutional question, Brexit, the Windsor Framework and sovereignty.
- The overall probability was at or below the not-flagging threshold.
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 | 0.28 | No |
| Sectarian or communal antagonism | 0.06 | No |
| Cultural grievance politics | 0.02 | No |
| Dog-whistle messaging | 0.15 | No |
| Controversy escalation | 0.08 | No |
| Legitimate policy scrutiny | 0.73 | Yes |
| Overall judgement | 0.26 | At or below not-flagging threshold |
| Option | Probability |
|---|---|
| No identity-based framing (chosen) | 0.82 |
| Reports or questions it | 0.00 |
| Criticises or condemns it | 0.00 |
| Adopts it | 0.18 |
| 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 13:48 UTC by jev-1.13.0 (requested as typesafe/jev) under rubric 2026.10-r9, methodology 1.9.
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