Brexit: NI Assembly to debate EU-UK trade deal

The Northern Ireland Assembly will return early from Christmas recess on Wednesday to debate the Brexit trade deal agreed between the UK and the EU.

MLAs will meet at 12:00 GMT after the speaker approved a request from the first and deputy first ministers.

The motion will not be legally binding but "takes note" of the trade deal.

The UK parliament is expected to vote on the deal on Wednesday, a day before the end of the Brexit transition period.

The Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP) and Alliance Party have all indicated their MPs will vote against the deal.

EU member states approved the EU-UK Trade and Co-operation Agreement on Christmas Eve.

It means that from 1 January 2021, the UK can continue to sell goods to the EU market without facing tariffs or quotas.

It also mechanisms to address unfair competition.

Rules pertaining to Northern Ireland are contained within the Northern Ireland protocol, which was designed to avoid a hardening of the border with the Republic of Ireland.

This agreement keeps Northern Ireland in the EU's single market for goods, with EU customs rules being applied at Northern Ireland ports, including goods arriving from Great Britain.

However, these arrangements have been criticised by the DUP, which said its MPs will vote against the government's deal on Wednesday "as a point of principle".

"A free trade deal is better than no deal, but for Northern Ireland this deal does not undo the detrimental aspects of the [Northern Ireland] Protocol," a party statement explained.

MPs and MLAs will have their say on the 1,200 page Trade and Co-operation Agreement struck between London and Brussels - but only those at Westminster will be able to deliver their verdict in a vote.

With the government's 80-seat majority and Labour largely on board, the result is not in doubt.

That means the EU Future Relationship Bill is expected to be signed into law late on Wednesday.

But it won't have the support of Northern Ireland's sitting MPs - the DUP, SDLP and Alliance say they will all be voting against it.

It is a decision that has been made easier now the prospect of a no-deal Brexit has been removed.

Alliance MP Stephen Farry said he had concerns that legislation for the bill was being published "at the eleventh hour".

He added he would not "blindly wave this through".

On Tuesday, SDLP leader and Foyle MP Colum Eastwood, said it was a "thin deal" which his party will oppose.

He added the SDLP will not "support this form of Brexit or any other form of Brexit".

In January, the assembly passed a motion withholding consent for the UK's withdrawal from the EU.

Sinn Féin's chief whip at Stormont, John O'Dowd, said it was right that MLAs be recalled on Wednesday.

He said this would be to "reaffirm our opposition to Brexit and reiterate our call for the full implementation".

"We think it's vitally important that the voices of workers, businesses and families in the area most affected by Brexit is heard," added Mr O'Dowd.