David Frost seeks to blame his predecessors for Brexit problems in Northern Ireland

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UK Brexit Minister David Frost has accused Theresa May’s negotiators of being largely responsible for the problems with the Northern Ireland Protocol.

On Friday, the Tory peer was grilled in person by members of the Stormonts Executive Board committee assembly, which is examining issues arising from Brexit.

Mr Frost argued that the problems with the post-Brexit deal that caused a trade barrier in the Irish Sea are largely due to the EU’s implementation of the deal he helped to negotiate.

But he argued that the protocol could have been better negotiated without the work done by Boris Johnson’s predecessor team as prime minister.

Christopher Stalford (Liam McBurney / AP)

DUP member Christopher Stalford quoted Ms Mays’ former chief of staff Gavin Barwell as saying Mr Johnson’s government knew it was a bad deal but intended to walk away. come out later.

Mr Stalford said Mr Frost inherited a dog breakfast from a deal, adding: You were left to clean up the mess, weren’t you?

Mr. Frost replied: We intend to implement what we signed, but it is the fact of the implementation that is causing the problem.

I would say it was the legacy we inherited from the previous government and the previous negotiating team that was a major part of the difficulty and the reason the Protocol is being shaped as it is, that is. is because we had a particular legacy from the old team who could not get their agreement, rightly in my opinion, through Parliament.

Unfortunately, we weren’t able to go back to zero and do things in a different way and I think the previous team is to a very large extent responsible for some of the flaws in this protocol and the Withdrawal Agreement without which we could be better, but unfortunately We are where we are.

Mr Frost argued that it is unreasonable to describe the protocol as a definitive text without any further discussion around it being necessary.

I don’t think he has the right to regard the protocol as some sort of final text which was there in October 2019 and there is nothing more to say. It is very clear from reading the text that this is not the case, he said.

For example, the whole notion of risky goods, which is obviously at the heart of some of the traffic problems between Great Britain and Northern Ireland.

It is not reasonable to say, given that the situation has changed in various ways and given that parts of the protocol remain to be worked out, that this is a final text and that in October 2019, it is is all and there is nothing more to say.

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