Vocal Voices

Sky leads with

Northern Ireland minister accused of breaching international law after he orders halt to agri-food checks at ports

Not quite true as they reveal further down.

"I have now issued a formal instruction to my permanent secretary to halt all checks that were not in place on 31 December 2020 from midnight tonight."

So not all checks, just very specific checks which have been implemented after 31 Dec.

However, the UK government says.

Last week, British Foreign Secretary and Brexit negotiator Liz Truss said the DUP's threats to halt checks were a matter for the Northern Ireland regional government to resolve, rather than for Westminster to intervene.

In other words, the specific checks they are talking about are covered within the legal competencies conferred on NI by the Devolution Act(s).

Which is probably why Poots says

"I have taken legal advice in relation to my position from senior counsel. Earlier today, I received that legal advice.

"The advice concluded that I can direct the checks to cease in the absence of Executive approval.

More fun and games to follow. But devolution are some of the most interesting fun and games because Westminster doesn't have to intervene. They can cheer, or heckle, from the sidelines, as their whim takes them...

It is game playing by Poots and the DUP.

It is about Brexit. It is about the Conservative's NI Protocol, which the DUP do not like. And it is also about the NI Assembly elections on May the 5th where the DUP are likely to lose power - 8 points behind Sinn Fein in the polls and SF are trending upwards.

Poots was not selected as candidate for the safe South Down seat because he is not popular and he might not get re-elected in his present constituency so he is going to stir up as much trouble as he can.

One of the downsides.

I see that NI First Minister, Paul Givan, is set to resign. That would mean deputy Michelle O'Neill of SF would also go as it is a joint position.

It is starting to look a bit coordinated, maybe to force Westminster's hand?

One of the downsides of devolution is that it gives us more and more politicians.
I could do without metro mayors, ta very much.
Nicola Sturgeon, Sadiq Khan, Andy Burnham and Drakeford are what devolution gets you and I've had enough of it.

I totally agree with you Cromwell. We are still the United Kingdom and what annoyed me the most all throughout the Covid pandemic were the daily briefings from the UK, Scotland, and Wales - and all of them were doing slightly different things to the others. If Scotland and Wales want to be able to allocate their own funds I would not disagree with that, but departing from the overall rulings from the House of Commons is not the right way forward and will only weaken the Union.

Scotland and Wales are not independent from the UK and have not yet voted to become independent. As such they should fall in line with the rest of the UK.

And what about the comment made by Ian Blackford that if Scotland became independent, the UK taxpayer should paid their pensions. They should pay their own way if and when they vote for independence.

Scotland, Wales and NI had health devolved. Covid response is a health competence. As it always is with politicians, the devolved assemblies have to justify themselves by differentiating and diverging from the UK.

As for NI, yes it looks coordinated. For Westminster the upside is that it is not their fault.... Because it is not their competency.

Leaving the EU trying to understand how the implement a UK wide agreement in a devolved parliament they never thought to negotiate with. They have "loads" of experience with this, Belgium is a prime example so they can't moan.

Now it is in the courts where they will debate whether Poots had the right to make the decision. So the order is put on ice.

Now comes the fun bit. If the Courts decide that the minister has the right to make this decision without full executive scrutiny, then things are going to get a LOT harder for the NI protocol.

I'm wondering if the resignation was an attempt to derail executive scrutiny and keep the situation going to the election. There are, however, now significant real issues to debate in the election.

People who voted to remain in the referendum are in a cleft stick. Especially Unionists. It is quite likely many Unionists didn't want to break from the EU because of the issues on the island. However, faced with the NI protocol, they then have to decide if they vote for a path which leads to unification or a path which strengthens ties to the UK.

I do not envy the decision, it is a hard one and sentiment rather than logic will drive most of the voting. I know this, I voted Yes in Indyref; Mrs S voted No.

Suff wrote:Scotland, Wales and NI had health devolved. Covid response is a health competence. .

Further to this Suff, I caught the end of a discussion on GB News. It was two Scotsmen talking about devolution and this issue came up briefly. It was suggested that Boris Johnson had made a mistake by deeming Covid a Public Health issue rather than a National Emergency. If he had done that initially, the devolved governments wouldn't have each gone their own way striving to promote their own importance.

They both went on to discuss that devolution has disunited the United Kingdom. I couldn't be more in agreement with them.

Yes I agree with them too meds.

It has allowed the rise of petty tyrants like Sturgeon and the twisting of what was supposed to be a unifying move to allow more "home rule" in areas of the UK which are different. Scotland is very different because the legal system is subtlety, but significantly, different. Plus legal competency age, voting age (locally) as opposed to voting age UK wide. In Scotland you are a legal adult at 16.

I guess the lesson will be learned. If there is another situation like this it will probably be classified as a national emergency.