Apprentice Boys blast ‘London/Brussels/Dublin arrogance’ over Brexit Protocol and Windsor Framework

The Derry headquartered loyal order has argued that the framework agreed by British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen in February has not ended the ‘dominance’ of European law in some sectors of the economy in the North.

In a joint statement on behalf of the Apprentice Boys of Derry Associated Club General Committee, General Secretary Billy Moore and Governor Graeme Stenhouse, said: “The Apprentice Boys of Derry believes that the Northern Ireland Protocol remains damaging to the Union through the continued dominance of EU law and regulations across manufacturing, processing, and trade.

"The cost of doing business and the reduction in consumer choice will increase everyday prices. Northern Ireland will be left paying for London/Brussels/Dublin arrogance.”

The Windsor Framework introduced a new green lane for goods travelling between Britain and the North and the so-called ‘Stormont brake’ that can be pulled if there is cross-party support for blocking EU law.

But the ABOD said: “The Windsor Framework has done little more than reduce the number of boxes to be ticked on the forms required by the EU for what ought to be routine trade transactions within the UK.

"The Windsor Framework enables the rigorous implementation of the Protocol from October this year: no grace periods, no Article 16, no £350 million spent over two years to mitigate the unmanageable and unworkable; and seemingly no-one at Westminster willing to stand up to the retention and further encroachment of EU law within the UK.

“The legal framework for goods manufactured, processed, and traded, for Northern Ireland, are to be set by the EU with no realistic means of stopping the steady expansion of EU rules.

“Small changes to some documentation might benefit the largest supermarkets and big businesses, for whom the Protocol was in any case mostly a spreadsheet adjustment. For big business the Protocol provides both competitive advantage and a barrier to new entrants.”

The loyal order which hosts the largest loyalist stand-alone demonstration in the world every August in commemoration of the Relief of Derry at the end of the Siege has said unionists should be putting pressure on London to go back to the European Commission.

“The already more frequent appearance of ‘not for sale to Northern Ireland’ on online shopping sites is merely a portent of what is to come.

“Unionist parties in Northern Ireland ought to be holding the Westminster Government’s feet to the fire. There should not even be a thought about returning to Stormont before the outworking of the Prime Minister’s kowtowing to the EU is fully understood.

“While some might laud extra cash for the Northern Ireland budget as an excuse to return to Stormont, that will not make one jot of difference to the implementation of the Protocol.

“It should go without saying that the Union is not for sale,” the ABOD stated.

12,000 expected for 'Derry Day' - the largest loyalist demonstration in the world