Rishi Sunak says companies are ‘queueing up’ to invest in NI
The Prime Minister’s efforts to secure a Brexit deal that potentially sees the Northern Ireland Protocol stalemate finally resolved will ensure a trading success for the nation, a financial expert has told Express.co.uk. James Bentley, Director of Financial Markets Online, says news coming from London of a deal signed by Rishi Sunak and EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen on Monday have reassured markets and pumped up forecasts for successful trading relations.
Mr Bentley said: “With one of the most toxic – yet least understood – legacies of Brexit apparently put to bed, the Pound has leapt into relief territory.
“As Westminster and Northern Irish politicians pore over the fine print of the Windsor Framework to work out who will be the winners and losers, the currency markets have already made their snap judgement; UK trade will be a winner.
“In response, the Pound is up sharply against most major currencies, even if it remains unclear how long the rally will last.
“Agreeing to make cross-border trade easier is one thing. Actually increasing cross-border trade is another, and once the relief at the breaking of the deadlock fades, sterling is likely to settle back into its sluggish pattern – especially against the Dollar, which is being buoyed by the prospect of further sharp interest rate rises by the Fed.
“Nevertheless this is a moment to savour for global markets predicated on free trade between nations. Post-Brexit trade friction between the UK and its biggest trading partner has been a constant gripe, both for Remainers who want to turn back the clock and for Leavers frustrated at what they see as Brexit’s missed opportunities.”
READ MORE: Brexit deal LIVE – Sunak quietly dropped ‘nuclear option’
Rishi Sunak signed a Brexit deal on Monday (Image: Getty)
Rishi Sunak insisted that his new Brexit deal for Northern Ireland addressed the concerns of unionists despite the “small and limited” role for European Union law and its court.
The Prime Minister, who was visiting Northern Ireland to sell the deal secured with the European Union, said he believed “hand on heart” that it addressed the concerns expressed about the current post-Brexit trading arrangements which triggered the collapse of powersharing in Stormont.
The Democratic Unionist Party (DUP), which brought down the Northern Ireland executive over the measures, is considering its response to the new Windsor Framework deal.
The framework removes the Northern Ireland Protocol’s barriers on trade across the Irish Sea and hands a “veto” to politicians in Stormont on EU law – a set of concessions from Brussels that went further than some expected.
But it still includes a role for the European Court of Justice, with the DUP and Tory backbenchers set to study the details of the complex set of arrangements in the coming days.
On a visit to Lisburn’s Coca-Cola factory, he said the deal would create “the world’s most exciting economic zone” with access to EU and UK markets.
“If we get this right, if we get this framework implemented, if we get the Executive back up and running here, Northern Ireland is in the unbelievably special position – unique position in the entire world, European continent – in having privileged access, not just to the UK home market, which is enormous, but also the European Union single market.
Sunak’s deal made the Pound rally on Monday (Image: Getty)
“Nobody else has that. No one. Only you guys: only here, and that is the prize.”
Critics online were swift to point out that the entire UK had full access to the EU’s single market before Brexit.
Mr Sunak told BBC Radio 4’s Today that the role of EU law was for single market measures aimed at avoiding the need for a hard border with Ireland.
“In practical terms, something that is important to people in Northern Ireland is not having a border between Northern Ireland and the Republic, I think that’s important to everybody in fact, but also it’s important for businesses to have access to the EU single market,” he said.
“As long as the people of Northern Ireland consent to that arrangement, then that’s why there is a small and limited role for EU law in Northern Ireland – what we are talking about is less than 3% of EU laws that apply in Northern Ireland and they apply very specifically for the purpose that I just mentioned.”
The Stormont brake means that “if there’s a new law that’s going to significantly impact people’s lives coming from the EU, they will be able to block it”.
Mr Sunak also said that border posts for checks on goods crossing the Irish Sea were mainly aimed at consignments destined for Ireland and the EU – the so-called “red lane”.
DON’T MISS:
Commons erupts at Sunak’s swipe at Boris and Truss [VIDEO]
Boris Johnson sends warning to DUP over new Brexit deal [INSIGHT]
Russia reeling after ‘unexplained explosions’ hit ammo and fuel dumps [ANALYSIS]
“The border posts are there very specifically for the red lane. Because as part of having a green lane, where goods flow freely within our UK internal market, if goods are actually going to the Republic of Ireland, ie going into the EU, well, that’s not our country and it’s entirely reasonable, that we have checks for those types of goods.
“And we also check when we suspect criminality or smuggling. And that’s something that the Government’s always said that it would do and has been long-standing practice, actually.”
In the green channel, for goods remaining in the UK, “there won’t be routine checks” but “there will be checks where we suspect criminality or smuggling”.
He said it was important to restore powersharing and to provide “stability” in Northern Ireland following the shooting last week of an off-duty police officer in Omagh.
Police are investigating an unverified claim by a dissident republican group, the New IRA, that they carried out the attack which left Detective Chief Inspector John Caldwell fighting for his life.
“People in Northern Ireland need and deserve their government to be up and running. That is what democracy is about,” he said.
“Stability in Northern Ireland is really important and it (the shooting) is a reminder of that.”
As well as his trip to Northern Ireland, Mr Sunak will continue efforts to win over Tory Eurosceptics and his predecessor Boris Johnson, who is yet to give a verdict on the new deal which replaces the Northern Ireland Protocol he signed.
Mr Sunak indicated he had discussed the deal with Mr Johnson – “of course I speak to the former prime minister” – and is expected to address Tory MPs at a private meeting in Westminster later.
DUP leader Sir Jeffrey Donaldson insisted his party was acting in a reasonable way as it considered its response to the framework.
“We’re reasonable people but we want to ensure that what the Prime Minister has said is matched by what is actually in the agreement itself, can it deliver on the areas of concern that we set out in our seven tests?” he told Today.
Sir Jeffrey said Northern Ireland should have unfettered access to the GB market, and if changes to EU law were to impact that, “then it is right that Stormont has a brake and that we’re able to ultimately veto any new such law”.
He insisted the brake would not be used for “trivial reasons”.
“We want to do it in circumstances where a change to law would impact on our ability to trade with the rest of the United Kingdom, and that certainly is no trivial matter,” he added.
