Following his question to the Prime Minister at PMQs today Jim Allister said:
“In my question to the Prime Minister in Parliament today, I asked how he proposes to pursue a trade deal with the United States of America, given the antipathy of President Trump for the EU, when part of the United Kingdom, Northern Ireland, remains subject to EU law, including EU trade law.
“The Prime Minister’s response did not deny that Northern Ireland continues to be subject to EU law, including EU trade law, and so he did not answer my question.
“The Prime Minister then went on, from a prepared script, to mention Mutual Enforcement and my Bill, which is relevant to my question because Mutual Enforcement provides a robust means of applying a soft border along the actual international border, and so would liberate Northern Ireland from EU law and put the United Kingdom in a position where we can negotiate a trade deal with the US.
“Instead of engaging with that point, however, the Prime Minister made the ludicrous assertion that he was concerned that Mutual Enforcement would result in hard border. This is patent nonsense, because the nature of Mutual Enforcement is such that, by definition, it could not result in a hard border because it does not require any border infrastructure.
“Of course, we do have a hard border and it is the EU border in the Irish Sea which partitions our United Kingdom and which the PM sustains. If he’s worried about hard borders, then let him start dismantling the one that exists!
“In reflecting upon this we should be mindful not just of the significant economic benefit arising from negotiating a trade deal with the United States but also of the serious costs of not doing so:
“The United States was the UK’s largest trading partner in the four quarters to the end of Q2 2024 accounting for 17.6% of total UK trade
- Total UK exports to United States amounted to £188.2 billion in the four quarters to the end of Q2 2024;
- Total UK imports from United States amounted to £116.1 billion in the four quarters to the end of Q2 2024;
“In 2022, the outward stock of foreign direct investment (FDI) from the UK in United States was £511.5 billion accounting for 26.9% of the total UK outward FDI stock.
“In 2022, the inward stock of foreign direct investment (FDI) in the UK from United States was £702.5 billion accounting for 34.0% of the total UK inward FDI stock (see here).
“So, the PM should not squander the need for a trade deal with the US on the alter of his obeisance to the EU. Instead, he should restore full sovereignty over the whole UK and then do a deal with USA for the whole UK.”
Mr Allister’s exchange with the Prime Minister is reproduced below:
Jim Allister: Given President Trump’s antipathy to the EU, how does the Prime Minister hope to obtain a trade deal for the whole United Kingdom in circumstances where the trade laws affecting part of the United Kingdom—namely Northern Ireland—are the EU’s trade laws, and where the laws governing goods and standards for what can be imported are EU laws? In those circumstances, how can a deal be obtained for the whole United Kingdom, or is the Prime Minister only interested in a deal that would apply to GB, thereby further ostracising Northern Ireland from the Union?
The Prime Minister: The hon. and learned Member knows that controls apply only to EU goods moving into Great Britain. The overwhelming majority of goods moving between Northern Ireland and Great Britain will continue to enjoy unfettered access to Great Britain indefinitely. The hon. and learned Member has made much of mutual enforcement; the reality is that this is mutual agreement. I know that he has his proposal, but I think his proposal would lead in the end to a hard border—something that has been rejected across this House on many, many occasions, and for good reason.