Debate contribution: EU Customs Fee on Small Parcels

Debate contribution by Mr Timothy Gaston on 13 January 2026.

MLA

Mr Timothy Gaston

Party at the time

Traditional Unionist Voice

Date

13 January 2026

Type

Debate contribution

Business

Private Members' Business

Heading

EU Customs Fee on Small Parcels

Assembly identifier

Official Report component 5316097

Read the official Assembly record

Text

The motion addresses something that goes to the very heart of daily life in Northern Ireland. The European Union intends to introduce, from 1 July 2026, a new customs fee on small parcels. That decision was taken not by Members of the Assembly or by Members of Parliament, and it certainly was not taken by the people of Northern Ireland or anyone elected by them. If the measure is imposed here, however, it will land directly on local traders, families and consumers, increasing the costs of goods from Great Britain and shrinking choice even further. That is the central injustice that the motion deals with. Parties will be judged on how they vote today. Once again, decisions that affect our economy and our cost of living are being made elsewhere, under a customs code over which we have no democratic control but to which we remain bound. It is not about international trade with the European Union; it is about parcels moving within the United Kingdom: a pensioner ordering clothing from England; a small business sourcing parts from Scotland; or a parent ordering school items from Wales. Those are everyday transactions, but they are now being treated as if they were imports to a foreign customs territory. That is not normal; it is not sustainable; and it is not compatible with the claim that Northern Ireland enjoys equal footing in the United Kingdom. A wider political truth must be confronted. The motion has exposed the fact that unionists returned to the Executive in February 2024 while the protocol remained fully in force.

Claims made in the House that a deal had been secured that met unionists' demands were, bluntly, untrue. That decision to resume devolved Government without the restoration of sovereignty over trade normalised the arrangements and signalled acceptance of the consequences.

You cannot return to Government under the protocol and then fake surprise when Brussels continues to legislate for Northern Ireland. You cannot accept foreign customs control in February and then express alarm in July when new fees are introduced. You cannot brand Jim Allister a "dead-end unionist" for spelling out the truth on those issues almost two years ago and then, later, bring a motion to the House that underscores the fact that he was dead right all along.

I accept the Member's intervention and am glad that he agreed with everything that I have said in my speech. However, I put it to him and his party that, by going back into the Executive, they gave up the only thing that unionism had: leverage to try to get rid of the protocol. The DUP mis-sold a deal to unionists to come back into this place in February 2024. Indeed, his party has spent the past year trying to unravel and unpick the deal and say that, no, it did not say whatever. However, the fact is that the Member's party sold a deal to unionism to restore this place that was bluntly untrue. It contained lies. His party lied to the electorate, and it will be judged in 2027 for the stance that it has taken. We only have to look back a number of weeks to a ten-minute rule Bill. It was a Rejoiner's private Member's Bill to bring closer ties between the UK and the EU. Where were the DUP MPs during that debate? I know where your party leader was. He was stopping your Members trooping through the Lobbies to vote against it, and, because of that inaction, that vote passed, whereas it could have been snuffed out with DUP support. If we want consistency on these issues —. I know that the Member will probably take grave exception to how his party voted in that vote, but by its actions, it will be judged. In 2027, the electorate will give its decision on how the DUP mis-sold to the people of Northern Ireland the 'Safeguarding the Union' Command Paper, which has fallen apart. I will get back to my closing comments. The customs code and customs charge are not an accident or an oversight; they are the logical and foreseeable consequence of surrendering control over our internal UK trade. That is something that no unionist should be complicit in, and, by sitting in the Executive day in, day out, those unionists and their parties are complicit in that taking place in Northern Ireland.

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

Assessment

Not flagged

Jev’s structured answers

Assessed 21 October 2026 at 14:17 UTC by jev-1.13.0 (requested as typesafe/jev) under rubric 2026.10-r9, methodology 1.9.

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