Below is an urgent email which TUV leader Jim Allister sent to the House of Lords Statutory Instrument Scrutiny Committee this morning.
Dear Lord Hunt,
The Official Controls (Plant Health) (Prior Notification) and Phytosanitary Conditions (Amendment) Regulations 2023.
I write to express my dismay at the assault of the above Regulations on the integrity of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.
It is clear from the regulations, as amplified by the Explanatory Memorandum, that Northern Ireland is classified as a ‘third country’ in respect of relevant potato imports to Great Britain.
Whereas the assertion of a bio security threat to GB from NI produce is itself highly insulting, it is the constitutional classification of my part of the U.K. as a foreign or third country which is utterly repulsive and wholly unacceptable.
While the terminology and content deployed is the product of the outrageous Protocol arrangements which abandon Northern Ireland commerce to EU rule and alignment, to now see this manifestation of NI classified in U.K. law as a ‘third country’ is so gross as to require repudiation and rejection.
Just last week His Majesty declared to Parliament:
‘My Government will promote the integrity of the Union and strengthen the social fabric of the United Kingdom.’
Accordingly, and reliant on the Committee’s terms of reference,
‘4 (a) that it is politically or legally important or gives rise to issues of public policy likely to be of interest to the House;’, I urge the committee to require these regulations to respect and reflect the constitutional position of Northern Ireland and the integrity of the Kingdom.
Yours sincerely,
Jim Allister