The Ghost of Brexit Past has yet to be properly exorcised, as developments at Stormont demonstrate.
It was confirmed last night that by pulling together, unionist MLAs have mustered sufficient strength to apply the so-called Stormont brake. This should not be confused with the Stormont break; assembly members have been in recess since the end of last week, and the next plenary session isn’t scheduled until January 13.
Read more: Pro-EU parties criticise application of Stormont brake
Nonetheless, unionists have interrupted their break to pull the brake for the first time. The Stormont brake is part of 2023′s Windsor Framework, which was an attempt by Rishi Sunak’s British government to address petulance among elements of unionism who were unhappy about how the Brexit they championed had worked out.
The brake mechanism allows MLAs to ask the UK government to consider, following a 14-day consultation period, whether changes in EU regulations which would ordinarily affect Northern Ireland should be halted.
Read more: DUP moves to pull post-Brexit ‘Stormont Brake’ for first time
It requires the signatures of 30 MLAs from at least two parties. DUP MLA Jonathan Buckley has been the ‘lead member’ organising the brake-pulling, and Stormont speaker Edwin Poots yesterday wrote to secretary of state Hilary Benn to notify him that, with 35 signatories from the DUP and UUP, as well as the TUV’s Timothy Gaston and Independent Claire Sugden, the threshold had been met.
The issue that has so focused unionist attention seems arcane: new EU rules around chemical packaging, including minimum font sizes used on labels. The changes will not be required in Britain but will apply in Northern Ireland if the brake process is unsuccessful.
It should be noted that the chemical industry itself has concerns about the changes, describing them as impractical and carrying increased time and cost burdens.
The Stormont brake should not be confused with the Stormont break, which lasts for almost a month for assembly members
That may be so, but this is also another example of the increased bureaucracy that is ultimately a consequence of the Brexit fantasy so enthusiastically peddled by the DUP and its fellow-travellers.
It is regrettable that, having shamelessly shackled themselves to Boris Johnson, that riot of recklessness, these same elements of unionism remain unrepentant about the mess they facilitated.
Keir Starmer has so far shown little-to-no enthusiasm to become involved in the north’s affairs at even a broad level, never mind the minutiae of Regulation (EU) 2024/2865 and the Stormont brake bequeathed to him by his clueless Tory predecessors.
This prime minister has made closer relations with the EU one of his priorities. The prospects of him jeopardising that rapprochement to appease unionism are vanishingly small.
The sensible approach would be for the UK government and the EU to reach a sensible accommodation. That could mean the brake issues are resolved before MLAs return from their break.
