Northern Ireland: Citizens’ Rights

Lord Dodds of Duncairn Excerpts

Wednesday 28th April 2021 Lords Chamber

[Viscount Younger of Leckie (Con)]

I do not agree with my noble friend on that point. The point is that the protocol has to work. As I said earlier, urgent progress is being made to address the outstanding concerns. The House will know that my noble friend Lord Frost will appear at the Dispatch Box tomorrow and I am sure that my noble friend will wish to put certain questions to him.

[Lord Dodds of Duncairn (DUP)]

My Lords, is this not a classic case, as far as the protocol’s application in Northern Ireland is concerned, of taxation without representation? How sustainable is it in the western developed world, in a modern democracy, for people to have laws imposed on them without any say or vote?

[Viscount Younger of Leckie (Con)]

The noble Lord will know better than I do that in terms of consent, ultimately the protocol’s fate depends on the political representatives of the people of Northern Ireland. The Assembly will next vote on the protocol in 2024, as agreed in the protocol itself.