Former Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) leader Edwin Poots has defended an apparent attempt to change the Northern Ireland Protocol bill. Northern Ireland’s executive and assembly has been blocked from forming by the DUP in protest against the protocol, though Mr Poots has said he supports the bill. He argued that “in so far as agriculture is concerned, the state aid arrangements… of the protocol, provide significant policy flexibility for Northern Ireland”. “The Northern Ireland Protocol Bill is proposing to disapply the approach to subsidy control that we currently have (which works) and extending the (UK’s Subsidy Control Act) (which doesn’t work) to Northern Ireland. Earlier this week, Northern Ireland Secretary Chris Heaton-Harris introduced legislation to push back the deadline by which a Northern Ireland Executive must be formed and to cut MLAs’ pay.

Source: The Herald November 26, 2022 07:27 UTC