London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Thursday, Oct 30, 2025

Boris Johnson to arrive in Northern Ireland amid crisis over protocol

Boris Johnson to arrive in Northern Ireland amid crisis over protocol

Boris Johnson is due to visit Northern Ireland on Monday in a bid to encourage the restoration of its government.

The crisis has been sparked by tensions over post-Brexit trade agreements.

Following the 5 May election, the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) has refused to enter the assembly because of the Northern Ireland Protocol.

The prime minister has said if the EU does not change its position on the protocol then Westminster will have a necessity to act.

Writing in the Belfast Telegraph newspaper ahead of his visit, Mr Johnson said the protocol was out of date and did not reflect the reality of a post-Covid era with a European war and a cost of living crisis.

His visit coincides with increased speculation that the UK government is poised to introduce legislation to strip away parts of the protocol.

The prime minister will meet Stormont's leaders on Monday and is expected to outline the government's next steps on Tuesday.


The last crisis at Stormont took three years to resolve.

Boris Johnson wants this one to be sorted much more quickly but others won't hold out the same hope.

During his flying visit he'll urge the parties to get back to work - in truth a message aimed mainly at the DUP which argues the stumbling block remains the protocol.

The party says it won't promise anything until it sees action from No 10.

Those first steps are expected to be announced by the government on Tuesday.

Already Sinn Féin has accused the prime minister of playing politics and Dublin warned that any unilateral action will mean retaliation from the EU.

Solving political problems requires trust on all sides - something in very short supply right now.

The protocol - now under fresh scrutiny following the election - was designed to ensure free trade could continue across the Irish land border.

The recent assembly election cemented a majority for those who accept the protocol, including the new largest party, Sinn Féin, but it has been opposed by unionist politicians.

The EU has acknowledged the protocol has caused difficulties for Northern Ireland businesses and it put forward proposals in October to try to ease that burden - it said they would mean a reduction in paperwork and checks on goods entering from Great Britain.

However, last week the UK rejected these plans saying they would make things worse.

Most politicians elected to the Northern Ireland Assembly want the protocol to remain


On his visit to Northern Ireland, Mr Johnson is expected to tell party leaders that any move to change post-Brexit trade rules must also restore power-sharing at Stormont.

Ahead of the visit, DUP leader Sir Jeffrey Donaldson said until Westminster makes changes to the protocol the consensus needed for power-sharing at Stormont does not exist.

Sinn Féin's Michelle O'Neill warned any unilateral action to denounce the Brexit deal by the British government would be "reckless".

"Walking away from international obligations would also represent an appalling attack on the international rule of law," she said.

Ms O'Neill, who is entitled to the role of first minister since her party won the most seats in the historic election, will also meet the Taoiseach (Irish PM) Micheál Martin on Monday.

Irish Foreign Minister Simon Coveney warned against unilateral action by the UK government to the protocol


On Sunday, Ireland's foreign minister warned that unilateral action by the UK government to the arrangements for Northern Ireland could undermine the peace process.

Simon Coveney accepted there was a need to address unionist concerns about how the protocol was working.

But he said there would be a "consequence" if the UK's actions created significant uncertainty on the island of Ireland.

The UK government and unionist parties have made the case that the protocol is damaging the Northern Ireland economy but the evidence for that is inconclusive.

A free market think-tank has repeated the claim the protocol is costing £850m a year.

The report by the Institute of Economic Affairs (IEA) is based on a previous estimate by the Ulster University economist Esmond Birnie.

It used a small dataset to analyse the impact on businesses and then added the cost of what the UK government is spending on mitigation measures.

Last week, the National Institute of Economic and Social Research suggested Northern Ireland's economy has slightly outperformed the UK average, partially due to the protocol.

Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
UK and Vietnam Sign Landmark Migration Deal to Fast-Track Returns of Irregular Arrivals
UK Drug-Pricing Overhaul Essential for Life-Sciences Ambition, Says GSK Chief
Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie Temporarily Leave the UK Amid Their Parents’ Royal Fallout
UK Weighs Early End to Oil and Gas Windfall Tax as Reeves Seeks Investment Commitments
UK Retail Inflation Slows as Shop Prices Fall for First Time Since Spring
Next Raises Full-Year Profit Guidance After Strong Third-Quarter Performance
Reform UK’s Lee Anderson Admits to 'Gaming' Benefits System While Advocating Crackdown
United States and South Korea Conclude Major Trade Accord Worth $350 Billion
Hurricane Melissa Strikes Cuba After Devastating Jamaica With Record Winds
Vice President Vance to Headline Turning Point USA Campus Event at Ole Miss
U.S. Targets Maritime Narco-Routes While Border Pressure to Mexico Remains Limited
Bill Gates at 70: “I Have a Real Fear of Artificial Intelligence – and Also Regret”
Elon Musk Unveils Grokipedia: An AI-Driven Alternative to Wikipedia
Saudi Arabia Unveils Vision for First-Ever "Sky Stadium" Suspended Over Desert Floor
Amazon Announces 14 000 Corporate Job Cuts as AI Investment Accelerates
UK Shop Prices Fall for First Time Since March, Food Leads the Decline
London Stock Exchange Group ADR (LNSTY) Earns Zacks Rank #1 Upgrade on Rising Earnings Outlook
Soap legend Tony Adams, long-time star of Crossroads, dies at 84
Rachel Reeves Signals Tax Increases Ahead of November Budget Amid £20-50 Billion Fiscal Gap
NatWest Past Gains of 314% Spotlight Opportunity — But Some Key Risks Remain
UK Launches ‘Golden Age’ of Nuclear with £38 Billion Sizewell C Approval
UK Announces £1.08 Billion Budget for Offshore Wind Auction to Boost 2030 Capacity
UK Seeks Steel Alliance with EU and US to Counter China’s Over-Capacity
UK Struggles to Balance China as Both Strategic Threat and Valued Trading Partner
Argentina’s Markets Surge as Milei’s Party Secures Major Win
British Journalist Sami Hamdi Detained by U.S. Authorities After Visa Revocation Amid Israel-Gaza Commentary
King Charles Unveils UK’s First LGBT+ Armed Forces Memorial at National Memorial Arboretum
At ninety-two and re-elected: Paul Biya secures eighth term in Cameroon amid unrest
Racist Incidents Against UK Nurses Surge by 55%
UK Chancellor Rachel Reeves Cites Shared Concerns With Trump Administration as Foundation for Early US-UK Trade Deal
Essentra plc: A Closer Look at a UK ‘Penny Stock’ Opportunity Amid Market Weakness
U.S. and China Near Deal to Avert Rare-Earth Export Controls Ahead of Trump-Xi Summit
Justin time: Justin Herbert Shields Madison Beer with Impressive Reflex at Lakers Game
Russia’s President Putin Declares Burevestnik Nuclear Cruise Missile Ready for Deployment
Giuffre’s Memoir Alleges Maxwell Claimed Sexual Act with Clooney
House Republicans Move to Strip NYC Mayoral Front-Runner Zohran Mamdani of U.S. Citizenship
Record-High Spoiled Ballots Signal Voter Discontent in Ireland’s 2025 Presidential Election
Philippines’ Taal Volcano Erupts Overnight with 2.4 km Ash Plume
Albania’s Virtual AI 'Minister' Diella Set to 'Birth' Eighty-Three Digital Assistants for MPs
Tesla Unveils Vision for Optimus V3 as ‘Biggest Product of All Time’, Including Surgical Capabilities
Francis Ford Coppola Auctions Luxury Watches After Self-Financed Film Flop
Convicted Sex Offender Mistakenly Freed by UK Prison Service Arrested in London
United States and China Begin Constructive Trade Negotiations Ahead of Trump–Xi Summit
U.S. Treasury Sanctions Colombia’s President Gustavo Petro over Drug-Trafficking Allegations
Miss USA Crowns Nebraska’s Audrey Eckert Amid Leadership Overhaul
‘I Am Not Done’: Kamala Harris Signals Possible 2028 White House Run
NBA Faces Integrity Crisis After Mass Arrests in Gambling Scandal
Swift Heist at the Louvre Sees Eight French Crown Jewels Stolen in Under Seven Minutes
U.S. Halts Trade Talks with Canada After Ontario Ad Using Reagan Voice Triggers Diplomatic Fallout
Microsoft AI CEO: ‘We’re making an AI that you can trust your kids to use’ — but can Microsoft rebuild its own trust before fixing the industry’s?
×