Northern Ireland After Brexit (Northern Ireland Scrutiny Committee Report)

Baroness Ritchie of Downpatrick Excerpts

Wednesday 25th March 2026 Grand Committee

[Baroness Ritchie of Downpatrick (Lab)]

My Lords, I am pleased to follow the noble Lord, Lord Rogan, although I cannot say that I agree with what he says. I declare my interest as a member of the Government’s Veterinary Medicine Working Group. I thank our chairperson, the noble Lord, Lord Carlile, and our staff for their direction and guidance in preparation, arranging witnesses and arranging inquiry sessions over that seven-month to eight-month period. It was a very interesting process. I come to this as somebody who supports the Windsor Framework, but I freely acknowledge and recognise that many businesses in Northern Ireland and Britain are encountering difficulties that need to be resolved.

I thank my noble friend Lord Murphy for his detailed report. He was circumscribed by certain conditions set down by the Government, on the basis that he had to find points of agreement within his report. The good thing was that what he brought forward was implemented by the Government, but now we want to see it happen and not just be words on paper. We want to see action and help for businesses.

I come to all this as somebody who supports the Windsor Framework. I want to see businesses being able to avail themselves of the dual market access, which means the Government, the Northern Ireland Executive, the Northern Ireland Assembly and the EU utilising and promoting the benefits of dual market access. There is a role there for the community and businesses in doing that.

I believe that there is an opportunity to leverage market opportunities by promoting the unique benefits of dual market access to attract foreign direct investment. There are significant economic benefits to be realised in raising awareness among businesses in Ireland, Northern Ireland and Britain of the competitive advantages offered by the access that they can have to both the UK internal market and EU single market. I do not regard this in any sense from a negative point of view; I think businesses want to get on with the job that they are involved in—business—and do not want to get involved in the politics. We have to be mindful of that. It is important that we, through our political machinations, do not undermine or deny their business opportunities.

Only last week, I was at the EU-UK Parliamentary Partnership Assembly in Brussels, where there was a reaffirmation of the commitments to the full implementation of the withdrawal agreement, including the Windsor Framework and the TCA, because they believe that they remain the foundation for the continued strengthening of relations between the UK and the EU. Of course, as my noble friend Lord Hain said, all this is a result of Brexit. Those who argued for Brexit must remember that this is what we have ended up with. If we had not had Brexit, we definitely would not be having today’s debate.

We must not forget that businesses urgently want a resolution to those bureaucratic challenges and trade frictions between Britain and Northern Ireland, including those taxation matters—some things are very complex—and they do not want to get involved in that political point scoring. With the support of government, they just want to grow the economy through building and expanding their enterprises, recruiting more people and helping the employment situation.

Notwithstanding this, the US tariff situation and the wars in Ukraine and Iran impact all this in terms of the difficulties that our agri-food industry will meet, because the vast majority of fertilisers that are used in the farming industry in Northern Ireland come through the Strait of Hormuz.

As identified through our subsequent evidence sessions after our report was published—we took evidence in the last few weeks—progress has been made through the £16.6 million allocation in the Autumn Budget for the implementation of many of the recommendations in our report and the report by the noble Lord, Lord Murphy, improvements to the Trader Support Service and the establishment of the Northern Ireland business support group, which should include membership for InterTradeIreland. It should be involved, as it has people with certain levels of expertise and already has a hub and one-stop shop, so things could be co-designed there. If it could be availed of in these early stages, that would be of benefit.

On the democratic deficit, I agree with my noble friend Lord Hain that Assembly Members and Northern Ireland Ministers need to be directly involved, because they are at the coalface and they know exactly what those issues are and what the best forms of solution are. So far, they have not been. They need to be seen, heard and part of the decision-making process.

We need a database or register of ongoing EU legislation established in the Cabinet Office to assist businesses and others. I ask my noble friend the Minister when this will happen and what work has been done to assess the impact of regulatory divergence. This issue was raised in our committee and in our previous committee. I am very pleased to see that the noble Lord, Lord Jay, who chaired that committee, is present. We put that point, and we need to see this, because I believe in dynamic alignment.

As the noble Baroness, Lady Foster, already referred to, the Road Haulage Association, which gave evidence to us, has three particular issues that need resolution: the complexity concerning community code classification; the £2 million turnover threshold for the UK internal market scheme, which restricts access to the green lane and introduces delays for many operators; and the implementation of Import Control System 2, which will add further administrative requirements. Therefore, I ask my noble friend the Minister what further useful work the Government will undertake to resolve these issues. What further discussions will take place with the RHA to resolve or mitigate the impact of those trade frictions?

As already referred to, InterTradeIreland’s specialist knowledge of Northern Ireland and the Ireland economies is fully recognised. It was born out of the Good Friday agreement, of which my noble friend Lord Murphy was one of the principal architects, and it deals with north-south trade. There needs to be movement between north-south and east-west, and all that knowledge needs to be garnered and utilised so that things can be resolved. It deals with customs issues, including commodity codes, customs duty waivers and the correct use of UKIMS declarations, including the “at risk” distinction.

I also urge that the one-stop shop is implemented with clear timelines as quickly as possible. I know that the start of the next financial year is just over a week away, but we need to see it implemented. On staff, is the work going to be contracted out or will Cabinet Office staff do it?

The other issue is the UK-EU reset. We need to see the successful conclusion of these negotiations, with full sight of the implementation of the legislation in the new parliamentary Session.

I should like to see a route back to full membership of the EU. I realise and acknowledge that others have a different viewpoint, but I want to see the implementation of the SPS agreement and that is what our Ulster Farmers’ Union wants as well. There are other issues, such as the legislation that needs to be implemented that will mandate that vehicles placed on the market in Britain must hold GB and EU type approvals and markings to enable their sale in both Britain and Northern Ireland. I was a victim of that in the last few years, and we received evidence on it whenever we visited Newry. When will that legislation be published? Will it be in the King’s Speech or will it be through secondary legislation? What is the expected date of implementation?

With veterinary medicines, much progress has been made but we need to look around the issue of optimal medicines and the costs thereof, and to ensure that there are no impacts on our agri-food industry. So I ask my noble friend the Minister to talk to her colleagues in Defra and DAERA to ensure that any paperwork issues are resolved as quickly as possible, and that farmers and veterinarians can use the correct veterinary medicines that bring benefit to the animals, the agri-food industry and food security. Of equal importance is a need for the authorities with responsibility for the EU deforestation regulations and CBAM to be identified and affirmed. Again, I ask the Minister to identify those authorities.

Finally, all of us want to copper-fasten and underpin the Northern Ireland economy. We want promotion of our assets and selling points. We want food security, less trade friction and less regulatory divergence. We want that centre of our regulatory divergence and to see that EU register updated, so that we know what we are talking about. For my part, I prefer dynamic alignment, which I hope would be achieved through the UK-EU reset. In the meantime, we want to promote Northern Ireland and its business, and do so in a positive and effective manner for the benefit of all the community, for job creation and to further solidify our local economic base.

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[The Parliamentary Secretary, Cabinet Office (Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent) (Lab)]

My Lords, there are many parts of the Windsor Framework, and every time I have a conversation or a briefing about it, there is always something new, and a new part of that world. However, puffins was not where I believed today’s debate was going to go. I hate to disappoint the noble Lord, Lord Empey, but I have been in post for three weeks and the power part may still yet be lacking—but I will see what I can do for him, because I would never seek to disappoint.

We have had a truly substantive and insightful debate this afternoon. I begin by thanking my friend, the noble Lord, Lord Carlile, for securing this debate and for his stewardship of the Northern Ireland Scrutiny Committee. I also take this opportunity to wish my noble friend Lady Ritchie a very happy birthday.

The report we are considering today is very important, not just because of the detailed work clearly undertaken but because the engagement of businesses and civic society with Northern Ireland’s trading arrangements is important at both a constitutional and economic level. Similar themes were also developed by the very thoughtful review of the Windsor Framework conducted by my noble friend Lord Murphy of Torfaen, and I am grateful to hear his further reflections today. There is something so special and addictive about Northern Ireland that means that those of us exposed to it become completely addicted and can never walk away from it. I think that is reflected by the fact that we have two former Secretaries of State participating today.

I have listened with great care to the contributions made from all sides of the House and I want to thank the noble Lords, Lord Dodds and Lord Caine, for reminding us of the stakes at play in Northern Ireland, both economic and cultural. Although noble Lords have different views across the diverse range of issues discussed today, a common thread has been our collective pledge to Northern Ireland’s prosperity, security and economic success, and a shared agreement that businesses, civic society, organisations and public authorities alike should have their voice heard in the very trading arrangements that necessarily underpin that success. Many specific points were raised today, and I will reflect on Hansard to see if I have missed any, but I shall endeavour to answer all the points raised.

I think it will be helpful if we place today’s discussion in context. I should first like to set out the Government’s ongoing commitment to the Windsor Framework and protecting the UK internal market—I assure the noble Lord, Lord Caine, that my speech has not been doctored—while appreciating that there can always be room for improvement. As we have heard today, not least from the noble Lord, those commitments were set out in our manifesto, and we consider them vitally important. They guide our reset with the EU, and they are our guiding approach to securing a vital new agreement with the EU that will smooth trade flows of agri-food goods. Those twin commitments are also important as they reflect the importance of trading arrangements that respect Northern Ireland’s place in the union, avoid a hard border on the island of Ireland, and which work on an agreed basis with the EU.

It is only through this approach that we can give certainty to businesses and consumers in Northern Ireland on the rules that apply, as they trade uniquely across two markets. That is why it contains important mechanisms to enable participation and facilitate that voice; the ability of the Northern Ireland Assembly to scrutinise EU rules; structures for businesses and civic society to engage with the UK and EU on the framework’s implementation; arrangements for the Government and Northern Ireland Executive to work together and ensure that Northern Ireland’s voice is heard; and a periodic vote in the Northern Ireland Assembly on continuing these arrangements. The first such vote, as we heard, triggered a review of the framework that was carefully and thoughtfully conducted by my noble friend Lord Murphy with a wide range of stakeholders. The Government are now taking action on all the recommendations set out in that review.

That brings me to the real topic of today’s debate: the one-stop shop. Noble Lords are very aware, it seems, of the announced £16.6 million for an enhanced one-stop shop regulatory support service, designed to navigate the knowledge gap facing small and medium-sized enterprises. This will be operational in the next financial year, which I gently remind noble Lords begins next week. We are working to make sure that this can work. I assure your Lordships’ Committee that the one-stop shop will support GB businesses as much as it will support businesses operating in Northern Ireland. I will come on to some of the other points that were raised in relation to that shortly.

Progress has also been made on veterinary medicine—something I will again touch on, in terms of the detail raised today. The UK Government worked extensively with industry in the run-up to the end of the grace period. I am pleased to say that the transition has been without significant disruption—I am not saying there has not been any—and there have been no significant supply issues or other impacts, although we continue to monitor this closely.

It would be remiss of me not to mention that the Government have also allocated £2.25 million in funding to InterTrade UK over the next three years, led by the noble Baroness, Lady Foster—funding that will allow it to continue its vital work in advising on and promoting trade within the UK. I am sure that the work of InterTrade will assist in continuing to boost the economy of Northern Ireland, as outlined by my noble friend Lady Goudie. I remind noble Lords that Northern Ireland is the fastest-growing part of the United Kingdom. I place on record my personal thanks to the noble Baroness, Lady Foster, for her work at InterTrade UK.

My noble friend Lady Ritchie raised an important point about the role of InterTrade UK and the one-stop shop. I hope and would expect that the one-stop shop will work with InterTrade UK and other stakeholders to support trade and that this will be something that works together.

[Baroness Ritchie of Downpatrick (Lab)]

I thank my noble friend for addressing that issue, but what about InterTradeIreland, which already has a hub and could provide some beneficial information?

[Baroness Anderson of Stoke-on-Trent (Lab)]

Given the nature of InterTradeIreland, that is a matter for InterTradeIreland and is not something I can comment on from the Dispatch Box.

With regard to the specifics of the report, in short, a lot has been done, but there remains more to do, as this report by the committee highlights. Indeed, the Government’s response to the committee’s report following the independent review shows as much. This leads me to our next steps. We are ensuring that the stakeholder engagement landscape captures a broad spectrum of businesses in a new Northern Ireland business stakeholder group—just to add to the wonderful flowchart that we saw earlier today. We are also looking at how the Government and devolved departments can conduct engagement and capture the views of industry, so that this is joined-up and gets the right outcomes earlier on.

The Northern Ireland Executive participate in all structures under the Windsor Framework, yet we acknowledge that there is more to be done between the Government and the Executive to ensure that public authorities link up and address issues with changes to regulatory proposals earlier in the process. We are therefore implementing new processes to address that and facilitate better engagement at all levels, beyond the Cabinet Office executive office working group.