Like ultimately, I don't know if the British government
will be talking about the protocol in a week's time.
They are very, very adept at dipping in and out of Brexit the protocol, the
issues in Northern Ireland when it suits them and then they go back to dealing
with levelling up or whatever domestic issue they're dealing with.
This is the issue for today probably won't be the issue on Wednesday in
London, but ultimately have a situation where the EU has to react.
The EU will react Aoife said they're likely, um, pause legislation
that was paused as the best as a goodwill during the autumn.
They'll probably start other legislation to, and where this leads to
ultimately is the potential collapse of the trade and cooperation agreement,
and if that does happen, the people will suffer The most are the people
of Great Britain and it's their government.
They'll have to thank.
It's also the people of the North I was just gonna say I disagree.
I truly believe that the people who are going to suffer the most are
the people in Northern Ireland, the people who the protocol affects
the most and whose voice is consistently not heard at the table.
There was a letter today signed by a majority of MLAs
asking the British government not to do this.
Our people will love under this protocol, and this is not what we want.
But it has become obvious over time over years.
It's a conservative government does not care for Northern
Ireland and the way that they say that they do.
And it is the people of Northern Ireland that pay the price.
Everyone is screaming at them, from businesses to the people to the elected MLAs
who were just elected last month, and the they're gonna player on ahead regarding
their a really important part of this that many people have missed.
This legislation actually removes the method of consent
from the assembly that was part of the protocol.
This legislation takes out that four year cooling off period
where assembly members doesn't matter which political traditions
have to vote in the protocol again this removes it.
So you have a government talking about wanting to protect
the Good Friday agreement and restore consent.
We get there removing the mechanism from the elected
representatives of the people of North. - Darren,
Isn't there an awful lot of contradiction in sort of what
has been announced today, the issue and consent?
As Louise pointed to their no majority of people
in the north didn't want Brexit to happen?
No, we were indeed.
But we can have those battles, but we are where we
are, and my point is that we are where we are.
But there is no consent in Northern Ireland's for the protocol.
A majority of unions, the vast majority of unions don't want to see it.
And your panellists can stick there, fingers in their
ears and ignore unionists in northern arm.
But frankly, there is no Stormont because of the protocol.
What's going?
What's going to happen now?
Daryn is sort of saying if you're saying you know
and unionists and and and yes, you're right.
Unionists in the north are not all happy.
Some are not, are not all happy with the protocol, but what difference really is any
of this going to make other than cause that instability we've been talking about?
Well, I think first of all, it's an attempt by the government to
try and address some of the concerns of those unionists.
You know, this is an internal UK matter and clearly those unions are pretty
angry about it, with implications for the island of Ireland.
What you?
But of course there are.
The Brexit has had massive implications for lost places.
I'm not here to defend Brexit.
I'm here to kind of set out with the British government of thinking, Let's just
say first of all, as your panels pointed out, the military has pointed out, you
know, this is going to have a really difficult ride through Parliament.
It's possible there will be a big rebellion in the Commons.
The House of Lords will almost certainly object.
This is going to be a long process.
Many think primarily.
It's a negotiating tactic and all I would say on the protocol to date is there have
been problems with it and at every stage on the whole, the EU have compromised.
They've moved along, and maybe the positions actually between Brussels
in London and trying to get the terms with some of the problems that
persist or not that far apart, but also in the end.
And we cannot ignore this and your panel have not talked about
it is that units are not going to go back into storm.
And unless there are substantial changes to the protocol and frankly,
that means Dublin had to be part of that process as well.
You have to be part of that process because if you genuinely are concerned
about the future of Northern Ireland, that means you have to address
Union's concerns as well as nationalist concerns.
The DP being at the knob of this Louise.
So essentially, we do have this stalemate in Stormont.
Nothing is happening there at the people in the north do need a government
and Sinn Fein sounds ready to lead because of that.
Because of that, is there a need for a renegotiation or talking around
this or coming to some sort of some sort of a settlement?
Okay, But for eight months, the European Union have been turning up to negotiate, and
the British Tory government have been leaving them sitting in a room on their own.
You cannot have a negotiation with yourself.
If that was possible, this would be over now.
So there has been scope for negotiation, and that just backs what we all
of us are saying essentially, which is that this is nothing got to do with
the North and everything got to do with internal Tory party machinations,
and that is what's causing this, and that's what's driving it.
And they may pick up this issue today.
They may drop at the next day, but unfortunately it's
the people in the North who are going to be left.
They're the ones who are at the business end of this, and actually, if they were thinking
about them, they've had eight months to turn up to talk about the issues.
I mean, when when it was necessary, issues in relation to medicine
were overcome and an accommodation was reached.
So you know the will is there on the part of the European Union.
I just don't see any reciprocal will on the part of the Tory government.
Are they likely to go anywhere with this like we had Marrow Seferovic, saying
the EU will not renegotiate the Northern Ireland Protocol agreement?
Neil, it's unrealistic.
It would simply bring further legal uncertainty
for people and businesses in the North.
So what are we likely to see now and in retaliation to this move?
As as I said, you'll see the legal action on pause.
You'll see new legal action started and there's this notion and Darren
has parted there from the British government that the you haven't have
compromised every time the British government has made one of these dramatic
interventions or threaten to break international law.
Don't forget, before the protocol there was a backstop.
But the protocol was a reversion to what the EU proposed already.
So there isn't this sort of notion that the EU needs to change
their mandate and it's throwing everything on the EU.
This trust has not shown up for a Brexit implantation meeting.
Since the 24th of February, there has been no engagement.
There is no engagement on the paper produced by Maros Šefcovic
in the autumn, which directly responded to the concerns of business,
agriculture and community leaders in Northern Ireland.
This is not about the you.
You have to turn around.
You have to change.
Are we looking at the trade war scenario here?
Then I mean, if you're saying that, you know that this is what they've come out with
today, no one has turned up to the negotiation table over issues to date.
Where can it go from here?
Well, I'm loath to use the term trade where, when there's an actual war happening
in Europe, and I think that would focus a lot of minds when you think what
people in the continent are dealing with four million refugees in Poland and
yet we have yet another strap from the British government.
But we do have the inevitable conclusion that this will lead
to the collapse of the trade and cooperation agreement.
It's a very thin deal, but make sure that there isn't tariffs.
There isn't quotas.
You don't have 45% additional costs on Irish goods going into Great Britain,
and vice versa if you've quite correctly said, the people who suffer the most,
of course, are the people in Northern Ireland of all communities.
But economically, the people in Great Britain who are suffering more than anyone else
in the EU based on the current crisis will suffer even more again, thanks to the
efforts of their own government to have their own little fight out light