Northern Ireland

Labour accuses UK government of 'failure' to prepare businesses for new Irish Sea border rules

Alan Lewis - PhotopressBelfast.co.uk         1-1-2021.Belfast Harbour cranes and containers.    .Generic Trade Picture at Belfast Harbour / Port.Generic Import / Export Picture at Belfast Harbour / Belfast Port.
Alan Lewis - PhotopressBelfast.co.uk 1-1-2021.Belfast Harbour cranes and containers. .Generic Trade Picture at Belfast Harbour / Port.Generic Import / Export Picture at Belfast Harbour / Belfast Port. Alan Lewis - PhotopressBelfast.co.uk 1-1-2021.Belfast Harbour cranes and containers. .Generic Trade Picture at Belfast Harbour / Port.Generic Import / Export Picture at Belfast Harbour / Belfast Port.

THE Labour party has accused the British government of a failure to prepare businesses for the requirements of the new Irish Sea border.

Shadow Secretary of State for Northern Ireland Louise Haigh and Shadow Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster Rachel Reeves called for action to tackle the disruption to trade between Britain and Northern Ireland which has seen some supermarket shelves left empty and problems for consumers ordering goods online.

"The failure to properly prepare GB businesses for the huge changes in the trading relationship with Northern Ireland is having real consequences," they said in a letter.

"Incredibly rather than taking concrete steps to minimise disruption, the secretary of state for Northern Ireland is in denial and simply pretending the border does not exist.

"The Northern Ireland Protocol has to be made to work - that's why we need urgent action to iron out these issues."

Secretary of State Brandon Lewis has repeatedly refused to accept the existence of a regulatory border between the north and Britain.

His predecessor, Julian Smith, yesterday called for a working group provided under Brexit arrangements to be set up to address concerns.

"There seems to be challenges, significant challenges, particularly GB to NI on the supply to supermarkets and other food products, amongst other issues," he told the BBC.

"We need to get all of these issues worked through so that businesses we rely on to create the jobs coming out of this crisis can have clarity."

A UK government spokesman said there were "no significant queues at NI ports and supermarkets are reporting healthy supplies into their Northern Ireland stores".

"We recognise the need to provide as much support to the haulage sector as possible as industry adapts to new processes," he said.

"We have been engaging intensively with the Irish authorities and hauliers on the issues that have been encountered for goods transiting through Dublin Port."