In December 2020 we saw 2 debates and subsequent votes in the Northern Ireland assembly that will introduce and make law a range of EU directives (laws) that will trump UK laws. The First was Tuesday 8th December 2020 which was called:
The Draft Marketing of Plants and Propagating Material (Legislative Functions) (Amendment) (EU Exit) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2020
Ever wonder why they make the titles so hard to read? I think it's so it puts the people off looking into it.
The Draft Marketing of Plants and Propagating Material (Legislative Functions) (Amendment) (EU Exit) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2020 enslaves NorthernIReland Assembly to 45 EU directives and regulations. It commits us to the unquestioning adherence to and implementation of each and every one of them.
Under the Plant Health Act (Northern Ireland) 1967, we unalterably impose 11 EU directives and regulations.
Under the Diseases of Animals (Northern Ireland) Order 1981, we enslave ourselves to 32 EU directives and regulations that we cannot change.
Under the Welfare of Animals Act (Northern Ireland) 2011, we subject ourselves to two EU directives that we can never change.
Some MLAs that have spoken on these issues have already tried spinning this as just a technical issue and makes no policy change. Yet in reality, it signals a fundamental change in the manner in which we are to be governed because it amends the statutes of the United Kingdom in these subject matters to require the Minister to make such orders as are "necessary" by the relevant protocol. In other words surrendering the power of the devolved Assembly to make our own laws that touch on these issues and intend instead to commit ourselves irreversibly to imposing the laws that are in the protocol: laws that we do not make, that we cannot change and into which we have absolutely no input. We are to be bound and chained to 45 EU directives and regulations that we cannot change.
Speaking in the house during the debate Jim Allister, the leader of the Traditional Unionist Voice said:
"This is a shameful day for our legislative Assembly. We are being asked to surrender the right to legislate according to our own needs and to have that right suborned to the diktat of EU regulations and directives. Strip away all the fancy words, and that is what this statutory instrument is about. It puts upon the people of Northern Ireland 45 EU directives and regulations that we can never change. I do not and will not consent to that, and I am very sad that some who should know better — I wonder whether they even read the regulations — will endorse the very enslavement of this place to EU rules."
Below is a list of all MLAs that voted last week to approve 45 EU directives/laws we are powerless to change.
The second one was on the 14th December 2020 which was the implementation of more EU directives/laws. This one is titled:
The draft Alien and Locally Absent Species (Aquaculture) (Amendment) (EU Exit) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2020 (Click here to read the debate). This one makes it illegal to trade in certain species with other parts of the United Kingdom and it was passed with overwhelming support. Including support from the DUP which if I remember correctly were a Brexit supporting party that campaigned for the UK to take back control of its own law-making facilities. Yet now are happy to be signing the Northern Ireland Assembly (our control) over to the EU on a host of topics. Yet removing Northern Ireland from the United Kingdom even further.
Speaking yesterday in Stormont Jim Allister spoke directly to the (so-called) First Minister and said: Mr Allister: The First Minister knows, and indeed has propounded, the very destructive nature of the protocol to the economic and constitutional integrity of the United Kingdom. Why then is her Agriculture Minister building the very infrastructure for the Irish Sea border at our ports over her "blood red" lines"? Why did she and her MLAs vote last Tuesday to bring in, in perpetuity, 45 EU directives and regulations so as to help implement the protocol?
The First Minister replied:
Mrs Foster: As the Member well knows, they are not brought in in perpetuity. They can be revisited again by this place. The whole point about our leaving the European Union is that the Assembly can revisit those regulations, and that is in the protocol. My question is, why do we need to adopt EU directives that further our divergence from other parts of the United Kingdom in the first place, just so we can revisit them in 4 years or so? Again, this is not a mere technical matter. This is not something that does not make a policy change; in fact, the regulation asks the House to criminalise an obscure aspect of trade within the United Kingdom. For example: previously if a fish farm or a pet shop — the most likely relevant bodies for legislation such as this — had a permit covering the translocation of one of these species from anywhere else in the United Kingdom to Northern Ireland, it would NOT be a criminal offence, because the United Kingdom, through its permits, was governing that arrangement. This regulation removes the caveat about the rest of the United Kingdom. It now makes it a criminal offence to trade on an item such as this within the United Kingdom.
Speaking in the debate Jim Allister said:
"What that is declaring is that courtesy of the protocol, Northern Ireland and the United Kingdom are now so separated that the rest of the United Kingdom is a non-EU third country — an "alien jurisdiction" in the words of the order — and that we are no longer integral in the United Kingdom and are now criminalising trade within the United Kingdom. Why are we doing that? Why is a DUP Minister asking us to do that? Because the DUP is now a promoter of the protocol. Without the protocol, you would not have the order in front of you.
The junior Minister managed to speak to us for 10 minutes or more and never mentioned the protocol. Why? It is because they do not want the public to know that they are in the business of legislating under and for the protocol. You cannot hide it. Just read the explanatory note for the statutory instrument:
"
The Statutory Rule will ensure Northern Ireland remains aligned with EU rules in these areas in accordance with the Protocol".
Ladies and Gents, here is a list of MLA that voted to criminalise certain trade with other parts of the United Kingdom.
Comments