To push agmt on the #Protocol, UKG threatened to use this Bill to breach it [I'm aware that sounds nonsensical]
What UKG wd hv broken was the need for *joint* UK-EU decisions on how to implement the Protocol.
We're told they have these ready now.
2/8
First, one ‘boon’ for NI from the #Protocol & confirmed in this #Bill, UK-EU Deal or No Deal:
EU goods entering NI will be treated as domestic goods & will not be charged import duty.
VAT/excise rules for mvnts btn NI & EU will continue to apply, ‘modified as necessary’.
3/8
3 main issues relating to customs/taxes arising from the #Protocol & covered in this #Bill:
1. Duties.
So, if applicable, EU tariff will be paid on GB & RoW goods entering the EU or 'at risk' of doing so via NI.
The Treasury will make regulations to bring this into effect.
4/8
Clause 1 of the Bill will change UK Taxation (Cross-border Trade) Act 2018 to allow Treasury to regulate for, e.g., imposing checks, controls or admin processes for goods GB to NI 🛃but also for modifying provisions of 🇪🇺Union customs legislation that apply to goods ‘at risk’
5/8
2. As we've long known, goods entering GB from NI will be subject to #VAT as though they were imports.
Goods entering NI from GB will also be subject to VAT as though they were imports.
Excise duty can be charged in certain circs. on GB-NI goods.
As summed up in explainer: 6/8
3. On goods moving NI to GB, the UK tariff will be imposed on those that are non-qualifying goods, i.e. not NI.
The definition of what is an NI qualifying good needs to be tightened up next year.
Then the Q of how to distinguish btn NI & non-NI goods entering GB arises...🧐
7/8
One chapter of the interim #Report on Irish unification referendums @ConUnit_UCL contains analysis of public #opinion polls & surveys in NI, GB & Ireland on the subject. 📊📈📉
Do see the report for the details & sources, but here's a snapshot... bit.ly/3nWfRiC
1/8
There's been a narrowing of the gap in recent yrs btn pro-Union & pro-Unity responses, & an increasing proportion think a united Ireland will happen at some point.
But if a #referendum were held tomorrow in NI, the combined evidence wouldn’t point to a clear majority Yes vote 2/8
Online polling shows higher support for unification than interview-based surveying, even when don’t knows are excluded. 📊
It is important to bear these methodological differences in mind in assessing this evidence. But both types have their place.
If there was to be a #BorderPoll, how shd it best be designed & conducted?
A gp of academics convened to answer that Q… & we found it to be far from straightforward*
Here’s our interim report bit.ly/3nWfRiC
+a few thoughts 1/8 *Not just cos we like complicating things
The Working Gp was excellently chaired & expertly run… but it was no easy task.
Not just due to our various views/disciplines, but cos there was almost no element that cd not be interpreted in different ways.
Each part of this #report was laboriously debated & discussed.
2/8
We learned that legal matters were one thing (😬) but if we also try to adhere to the #1998Agmt in underlying principles, it becomes even more challenging.
This is only right.
Inclusivity, consensus, British-Irish cooperation… remain essential.
They are also hard-earned. 3/8
The statement shows the UK Internal Market Bill was only the half of it...
At the end it promises more such moves to come in the Finance Bill,
"inc. the same Parliamentary process that the Govt has committed to for the UKIM Bill" to related to "tariffs on GB-NI movement"...
2/
This is a statement for those not familiar with the NI/IRL Protocol - i.e. it is aimed at MPs who may still have niggles about the whole 'putting law-breaking into law' thing.
It is certainly not one intended to address the key matter, or to rebuild necessary trust with EU.
3/
These strands represent the lines of division that gave rise to the #conflict:
* unionist/nationalist within NI,
* north/south across the border, &
* British/Irish.
The B/GFA formalised cooperation across these lines.
2/13