Unionist politician tried to dilute UK bill aimed at Northern Ireland protocol

According to a letter seen by the Financial Times, one of Northern Ireland's leading unionist politicians tried to get the British government to weaken legislation that gives UK ministers the power to tear up the trade deal.

The legislation that threatens to sweep away the Northern Ireland protocol is supported by the Democrats.

In July of last year, the former leader of the Democratic Unionist Party wrote to the UK government to argue that the region's farmers would be better off under the protocol.

The political institutions in Northern Ireland were vetoed by the Democratic Unionist Party.

While the protocol was "wholly unacceptable", it was "entirely reasonable" to try to support farmers.

He said there was nothing wrong with cherry picking and that Northern Ireland needed to have the ability to respond to certain circumstances.

The return of a trade border on the island of Ireland was avoided under the protocol between the EU and the UK.

Northern Irish goods and agricultural support were subject to the EU's state aid regime, but were granted a generous exemption for farm subsidies.

The Northern Ireland protocol bill, if enacted, would force the region's farmers to accept the same agricultural subsidy regime as the rest of the UK.

The state aid arrangements of the protocol give significant policy flexibility for Northern Ireland, according to the man.

The British subsidy regime created by the Subsidy Control Act will take effect on January 4.

The new UK regime would be less generous to Northern Ireland's farmers than the protocol is currently in place.

The proposed Northern Ireland protocol bill will now extend these difficulties directly to Northern Ireland as a result of the UK subsidy control regime.

The Northern Ireland protocol bill proposes to change the approach to subsidy control that we currently have, which doesn't work, and to extend the UK's subsidy control act to Northern Ireland. We need a solution.

He can't remember getting a response from London. The agricultural policy framework is compatible with the Northern Ireland Protocol, according to Northern Ireland's agriculture ministry.

The EU State Aid framework would be removed if the NI Protocol Bill were to be advanced. The agricultural policy framework needs to be assessed in light of that different regime.

In the event that a negotiated solution over the implementation of the Protocol could not be reached, the protocol bill would be used to resolve practical issues.

Businesses can benefit from the same support and subsidies across the whole of the UK if the bill is passed.

The legal deadline to restore the Northern Ireland executive passed at the end of October, which led to the resignation of the agriculture minister. New elections will be held early next year unless the executive is restored, as civil servants now run the region.

According to a senior industry figure, the protocol allowed for £50 million in support for beef and other farmers.

The person said that he was able to put £50 million into the measures with the protocol. He said that if the bill were passed, we wouldn't know what policy was going to be.

Foreign secretary James Cleverly stressed this month that both sides had yet to resolve any of the difficult issues and that he had yet to see a route through.