Despite Conservative criticism, on Tuesday, British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s spokeswoman encouraged legislators to support a key part of the new accord on post-Brexit commercial arrangements in Northern Ireland.
On Tuesday, an important group of eurosceptic Tory members cautioned that the recently agreed “Stormont brake” mechanism to protect Northern Ireland from being exposed to unpleasant EU rules was “practically worthless”.
Sunak’s spokeswoman said before Wednesday’s Windsor Framework vote that “the Stormont brake is vital and the most critical feature of the framework,” urging legislators to support it.
“I don’t comment on Conservative MP communications… But this is excellent for Northern Ireland.”
The Stormont brake allows the British government to suspend new EU goods legislation in Northern Ireland if a third of regional assembly legislators request it.
The spokesman didn’t comment on the vote’s party-political component. Still, he addressed legislators’ worries that EU law and the European Court of Justice remained paramount in Northern Ireland and claimed the brake was a “major step shift” from previous accords.
“It basically addresses the democratic deficit… The framework minimizes EU law in Northern Ireland, according to the ECJ “said.
“Voting against the brake would result in involuntary EU alignment with no say.”
