South Holland and the Deepings MP Sir John Hayes hails Rishi Sunak's deal for Northern Ireland and the togetherness of the UK
In his latest column, MP Sir John Hayes praises the Prime Minister for the Windsor Framework and what it says for the strength of the whole UK...
Last week, the Prime Minister did what many said could not be done – Rishi Sunak renegotiated the Northern Ireland Protocol to strengthen our precious United Kingdom. The diplomacy of the Windsor Framework comes just weeks after the leader of the Scottish independence movement, Nicola Sturgeon, departed after misguidedly taking on the Government over her nonsensical gender self-identification policy.
Each and both of these events means that the United Kingdom is perhaps more united now than it has been for years.
The real benefits of the Union matter, but the symbolism of togetherness matters too.
In Parliament each week, I walk through the Central Lobby of the Palace of Westminster. There, above four arches, mosaic depictions of the patron saints of England, Scotland, Ireland, and Wales can be found. England’s St George is depicted with figures of Purity and Fortitude by his side.
The Welsh patron saint, St David, whose day we celebrated last week, is depicted in Parliament’s mosaic as having a white dove on his shoulder. Born in Pembrokeshire in the sixth century, the patron saint of Wales established a monastic community.
The mosaic of Scotland’s patron saint, St Andrew, includes three symbols most associated with our northernmost neighbours; the thistle, the St Andrew’s cross and Royal Coat of Arms for Scotland.
St Patrick’s mosaic, designed after the division of Ireland into the Irish Free State and Northern Ireland, is, as a result, the most complicated. The depiction of St Patrick is flanked by St Brigid, with an Irish harp, and St Columba, who represents the North of Ireland with a shield at his feet depicting the Red Hand of Ulster.
As this work of art illustrates, Northern Ireland’s status is unique. The strains at the province’s heart, subtly suggested in the mosaic, will always present difficult challenges.
That the Prime Minister has chosen to rise to these challenges does him great credit.
Progress has certainly been made - from now on, there will be red and green lanes to enable the swift and easy movement of goods, produce from Lincolnshire for example, between Northern Ireland and the rest of the United Kingdom without huge quantities of paperwork.
There are new agreements on VAT, medicines, and alcohol duty, and a ‘Stormont Brake’ that gives the Northern Ireland Assembly the power to temporarily stop any changes to EU goods regulations if they fear the changes would have a “significant and lasting effect on everyday lives”.
Nevertheless, questions remain. Some have raised concerns that, in practice, the vetoes will merely delay, rather than stop, changes to the law, and it is uncertain whether the Ulster Unionist MPs will support the deal.
For three centuries, the United Kingdom has brought together its component parts to the benefit of the people in each of them.
For example, many of the British Army’s most revered regiments have been based in Scotland, Wales and Ireland, so that our country’s defence, like so much else, is built upon the union of our combined strengths and skills.
We must never lose sight of the importance of underpinning cohesion across our United Kingdom. We are clearly better off together.
