he UK will focus efforts to reform the Northern Ireland Protocol in an effort to preserve stability, Deputy Prime Minister Dominic Raab said as the government grappled with the implications of Sinn Fein’s Stormont success.
The victory in Stormont “marks the beginning of a new era” of politics, Sinn Fein vice-president Michelle O’Neill said.
His party is committed to a border poll on unification with Ireland, although that is not a likely prospect in the short term, and Raab noted that the majority of voters in Northern Ireland had not supported Sinn Fein’s position.
“If you look at the results in Northern Ireland, 58% of people voted for parties that support the Union or for parties that do not support constitutional change and that is the message from the people of Northern Ireland,” Raab told Sky. . News.
“We don’t have an executive yet, I think the first priority, given that 58% of people in Northern Ireland don’t ask for that kind of change, is to get the executive going.”
O’Neill’s hopes of becoming prime minister in a power-sharing executive hinge on the unionist DUP, the second-biggest party, joining an administration, something she has ruled out unless there are major changes to the subsequent deal. to the Brexit of Northern Ireland.
Raab said the government would take “whatever steps are necessary” to resolve problems related to the protocol.
But he declined to say whether action on the Northern Ireland Protocol would be included in the queen’s speech on Tuesday.
He told Sky News: “If anything, the result in Northern Ireland of that election makes it clear that it cannot be postponed.”
He suggested it would be addressed in the “weeks and months” to come, warning that stability in Northern Ireland was being “jeopardized” by the dispute over the protocol, which was agreed by Boris Johnson’s government as part of the Brexit divorce from the EU. . .
The impasse will heighten tensions between Westminster and Brussels, with the UK insisting all options remain on the table, including the possibility of unilaterally scrapping elements of the deal.
That could trigger a major rift in relations between the United Kingdom and the European Union.
The protocol effectively creates controls on goods flowing from Britain to Northern Ireland to allow for an open border with Ireland, which is within the EU’s single market and customs union.
“We will deal with the situation, we will take the necessary steps to protect the economic and constitutional integrity of Northern Ireland,” Raab said.
He indicated that the protocol had been used as a “political device” by Brussels.
Ireland’s Europe Minister Thomas Byrne said “a decisive majority” of Stormont’s elected MLAs want the protocol to work and called on the UK to “engage in a renewed way with the European Union” on the issue.
As well as the prospect of a new round of Brexit battles with Brussels, Johnson is also facing pressure from his own benches to change course after Thursday’s election.
Writing for The Telegraph, former cabinet minister Damian Green, leader of the influential One Nation MP Conservative caucus, said the party must “rediscover the virtues that appeal to natural Conservatives in strong Conservative areas”, including reducing the burden prosecutor to help those who struggle. with the rising cost of living.
From the right of the party, former cabinet minister Sir John Redwood called for tax cuts and warned that governments “are generally only removed from office when the economy goes into recession under their watch”.
Raab insisted that while the election had been “challenging”, it was a “mixed bag” and he was confident that Johnson’s leadership would survive.
“I am confident that he can and will win the next election,” he said.
The government will seek to use the queen’s speech on Tuesday to show that it is responding to voter concerns and putting behind scandals involving Conservative MPs and disputes at party gates over arrest fines imposed on Mr. Johnson and Foreign Minister Rishi Sunak.
Raab declined to categorize the speech as a “reset” by the Johnson administration, but added: “What we are going to focus on this week is what our plans are to boost the economy and protect the cost of living.
“We are going to talk about the reform of the agricultural sector, the innovation to create cheaper and healthier food.
“We’re going to talk about areas where Britain has a real comparative advantage, technology, financial services.”
Raab acknowledged that a revival of the Liberal Democrats would mean he faces a “tough fight” in his own seat of Esher and Walton in Surrey.
Leveling Up secretary Michael Gove suggested that a decline in home ownership may have contributed to the party’s woes in London, where flagship authorities in Wandsworth and Westminster fell to Labor after decades of Tory control.
He told The Sunday Telegraph: “There are other factors. But I think for young people in London, the incumbent government has a responsibility to address some of the factors that have made it difficult for them to own a home.”
After the results of 198 out of 200 councils, the Conservatives suffered a net loss of 12 officers and 401 councillors, Labor won seven councils and 240 seats, the Liberal Democrats five officers and 188 councillors.
Reference-www.standard.co.uk