TUV leader Jim Allister has described the opening of a new border control post in Larne Port as “a day of humiliation” for Northern Ireland.
In a statement on Monday, Mr Allister set out his complaints as “the first major permanent border control post” was scheduled to come into effect in Larne Port.
As part of the post-Brexit Windsor Framework, it was agreed that inspection facilities would be constructed in Belfast, Larne, Warrenpoint and Foyle for certain goods entering Northern Ireland from Britain.
With arrangements in Foyle and Warrenpoint already in place, the go-live date for Larne was Monday, with Belfast Port to follow on August 11.
Earlier this year, a new agri-food deal between the EU and UK pledged to greatly reduce the requirements for checks on animal and plant products (Sanitary and Phyto-Sanitary) – but this could still take months to implement.
A UK government spokesperson told The Irish News: “We are committed to implementing the Windsor Framework in good faith and taking all steps necessary to protect the UK’s internal market.”
“Our new SPS Agreement, once agreed and implemented, will cut paperwork and checks for goods moving from Great Britain to Northern Ireland.
“In order to secure that agreement, it is vital that we implement existing arrangements, and we will continue to work closely with businesses to support them in doing so.”
They added that some checks, including those on live animals, will still be necessary as was the case pre-Brexit.
TUV leader and North Antrim MP Jim Allister. (Liam McBurney/PA)
In his statement, Mr Allister said: “From today, the first major, permanent border control post constructed to cement in a ‘hard’ Irish Sea Border, dividing the United Kingdom, will come into service.”
Calling it an event of “far-reaching constitutional importance,” he said Northern Ireland was now being cut off from the UK’s Internal Market for Goods and “being forced without consent” into an all-Ireland Internal Market for goods, describing it as a “legal fiction” to secure the UK’s breakup “with minimal opposition”.
He continued: “Today is, as such, a day of humiliation both for the people of Northern Ireland and the United Kingdom as a whole, as we bow to the attempts of 27 European states to disrespect our territorial integrity and degrade our democracy both in direct violation of the Belfast Good Friday Agreement as international law.”
Responding, Sinn Féin MLA Declan Kearney said that such checks were made “inevitable” as the result of the Brexit “championed by unionism”.
“The Protocol, which was voted on and endorsed by the majority of MLAs last year, mitigates against the worst aspects of Brexit and ensures checks are kept to minimum and there is no hard border on the island of Ireland,” he said.
“Arrangements that protect our local businesses, grow jobs and investment, support the resilience of the all-Ireland economy, and maintain political stability, are all paramount.
“This is especially so given the current uncertainty caused by dangers of differential tariffs or potential trading friction.”