THE First Minister has revealed that the Scottish Government has not been consulted on border checks at a main point of entry for goods coming from Northern Ireland amid the restoration of Stormont.
At FMQs on Thursday, Humza Yousaf welcomed the restoration of powersharing in Northern Ireland - but highlighted the snub from Westminster over border consultation at Cairnryan as well as a £3.3 billion package offered to Northern Ireland that has not been offered to Scotland or Wales.
Yousaf said the deputy first minister had written, along with her Welsh counterpart, to the UK treasury with concerns over the package.
The concerns come after comments by Ireland’s premier, Leo Varadkar, stating that the EU has “some questions” about the UK Government deal to restore powersharing in Northern Ireland as it pledges significant changes to post-Brexit trading arrangements.
READ MORE: Sinn Fein leader says Stormont return of ‘great significance’
Routine post-Brexit checks on goods shipped from Great Britain to final destinations in Northern Ireland are to be removed as part of the UK Government deal. A command paper titled “Safeguarding The Union” commits to replacing the current green lane process, which requires percentages of goods to be checked as they arrive from Great Britain, with a “UK internal market system” that will govern the movement of goods that will remain within the UK.
Cairnryan – a port which acts as a main point of entry for goods from Northern Ireland to the UK - is part of the proposed investment zone of the agreement, with a potential job and investment boost on the cards for the area.
Yousaf, in response to Cairnryan’s MSP Finlay Carson inviting him to welcome the negotiations progress, said: “I absolutely welcome the restoration of powersharing in Northern Ireland. The people of Northern Ireland have had to, for too long, put up without an elected government in place, so this is good news”.
He added that in is experience at Northern Ireland privy councils, the absence of Northern Irish representatives was “noted, and their presence has been missed”.
The First Minister went on to share the dismissal of the UK Government in any consultation on the border checks.
“It would be fair to say that we weren’t given any advance sight of the command paper that has been published by the UK Government yesterday. There was no meaningful engagement by the Westminster government”, Yousaf said.
“The UK Government appears to have unilaterally decided that there will be no border control post at Cairnryan – it’s not a decision that they have consulted us on”.
“I also note that there was a £3.3 billion package offered by the secretary of state to address public spending and for pay pressures in Northern Ireland – which I have to say is welcome – these pressures do exist in Scotland, and I suspect they exist in Wales too.
“I know that the Depute First Minister has raised with the chair secretary to the treasury - as did her Welsh counterpart - that the devolved governments should be treated fairly aligned with the Barnett Formula.”
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