Debate contribution: EU Customs Fee on Small Parcels

Debate contribution by Mr Eóin Tennyson on 13 January 2026.

MLA

Mr Eóin Tennyson

Party at the time

Alliance Party

Date

13 January 2026

Type

Debate contribution

Business

Private Members' Business

Heading

EU Customs Fee on Small Parcels

Assembly identifier

Official Report component 5315991

Read the official Assembly record

Text

In a similar vein to Ms Ferguson, I say, "You won, lads. Cheer up". You won the referendum; you got the Brexit that you wanted. I appreciate that Mr Brooks said:

"it was not the Brexit that was promised by Vote Leave".

I agree that it was not, but the rest of us knew. The rest of us knew not to throw our lot in with Nigel Farage, Boris Johnson or the European Research Group (ERG). The rest of us knew that, no matter what was written on the side of the big, red bus about £350 million for the NHS, the DUP would inevitably end up under that bus. I take issue with what was said on consistency. It was claimed that the DUP has always been consistent on these issues, so let us put that to bed. In January 2024, the then leader of the DUP, Jeffrey Donaldson, said:

"For goods coming in from the UK, our objective was to remove the Irish Sea border and that is what we have achieved".

In February 2024, Gavin Robinson, crowing about what the DUP had delivered, said:

"We have resolved the unresolvable".

We are now being told, quite openly, by Members from the same party that that was not true. Let us ground ourselves in the facts of the issues. The fact is that, when you come out of the customs union, you create a customs border. It then becomes a question of whether that customs border is on land, at a porous land border that people and communities cross daily, or whether it happens in the Irish Sea. The Windsor framework, which the motion decries, includes flexibilities and safeguards, and the legislative text of the EU customs reform says that it will not diminish the protections that have arisen from the Windsor framework, such as the UK internal market scheme for business-to-business trade and the UK carrier scheme and arrangements for business-to-consumer and consumer-to-consumer parcels, so there will be protections. We should be vigilant, of course, as the EU legislation progresses, so that the UK Government stand up for our concerns and ensure that there are no additional barriers. I absolutely would support a call for that, but that is not what the motion seeks to achieve. The obvious solution, which the DUP is not prepared to grapple with, is a UK-EU customs border to ensure that the UK and the EU collaborate on the issues and that there are no barriers, checks or tensions anywhere on these islands. That is essential for us as a shared and interdependent society and a shared and interdependent economy. I welcome the fact that a ten-minute rule Bill was moved in the House of Commons by the Lib Dems — it passed narrowly, by one vote — to introduce a Bill to open negotiations on a UK-EU customs union. That would solve many of the challenges that the party opposite has raised. I just wish that it would join me in my calls and be honest about the steps that need to be taken if we are to remove that Brexit bureaucracy. Far from creating certainty for businesses and enabling further growth for our businesses, simply rejecting the protections in article 5 of the Windsor framework that the Assembly previously voted for would plunge those businesses into the very same chaos and instability. It is time for honesty. It is time for people to own the consequences of their actions and to level with the public about the trade-offs and choices. We have always been honest about those tensions and trade-offs. What we are interested in now is practical and pragmatic solutions, so that we can continue to build a vibrant and strong economy. I am proud that, under the Windsor framework, Northern Ireland's economy has continued to outperform the rest of the UK, and I hope that that can continue, with a bit of pragmatism and flexibility.

I thank the Member for giving way. Given that she seems to be opposed to the idea of removing the small parcel threshold, is she similarly opposed to the proposals that the UK Government are consulting on for the same measure?

697 words. Text as published by the Northern Ireland Assembly.

Assessment

Not flagged

Jev’s structured answers

Assessed 21 October 2026 at 14:12 UTC by jev-1.13.0 (requested as typesafe/jev) under rubric 2026.10-r9, methodology 1.9.

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