Duty Relief Exemption: Small Parcels

Baroness Ritchie of Downpatrick Excerpts

Thursday 26th February 2026 Lords Chamber

[Lord Livermore (Lab)]

Yes, I can give the noble Baroness the clarification she seeks. The answer to the first question she asked is yes. As I said in my opening Answer, in May last year the Government introduced important new arrangements for freight and parcel movements to ensure that goods can continue to move smoothly from Great Britain to Northern Ireland. These facilitations under the Windsor Framework are unaffected by the EU’s change to its duty relief exemption. Goods travelling from Great Britain to Northern Ireland can continue to move under the UK Carrier Scheme and the UK Internal Market Scheme without the need to pay duty.

[Baroness Ritchie of Downpatrick (Lab)]

My Lords, I thank my noble friend the Minister for his detailed and clear response. Does he agree that one should be very careful about what you argue and campaign for, because sometimes you get what you want? Does he agree that those who argued for the hardest possible Brexit got the Windsor Framework? I agree with that.

[Lord Livermore (Lab)]

My noble friend is absolutely right that back in 2016, Sir John Major and Sir Tony Blair very clearly said that Brexit will present very specific challenges for Northern Ireland, given its land border with an EU member state and the importance of safeguarding the Good Friday agreement. Unfortunately, many of those concerns were dismissed, but now that the reality of Brexit does not match up to the fantasy version that other people imagined, they seek to blame others for the consequences of their own actions. My noble friend is equally right, though, that the Windsor Framework is the best possible solution to Northern Ireland’s unique circumstances.