Brendan Smith warns of hard December crash threatening border businesses
Brendan Smith warned that the UK joint committee meeting on implementation of the withdrawal agreement and the Northern Ireland protocol carries critical risks for communities in the border region. He argued the lack of clarity and preparation could lead to a hard December crash out, causing severe economic and political damage.
Committee meeting and stakes
The speaker said the UK joint committee meeting tomorrow will be extremely important for people across the island, and most particularly for communities in his home border region. He highlighted concern that recent negative comments and analysis mean there is no confidence of progress on implementation of the withdrawal agreement.
Implementation and readiness concerns
He cited a recent report to the British think tank UK and a changing Europe that warned time is short, a gap remains between the two sides, and small businesses will struggle to be ready. While some progress by Britain has been noted, the report said many details still need clarification for agreed arrangements to be up and running by year-end.
Impact on local businesses and communities
Brendan Smith described local businesses as already struggling to survive after lockdown and praised communities for supporting local retailers and producers. He warned that those efforts could be "washed away" by a hard December crash out that drags Northern Ireland out without necessary preparations.
Calls for urgent preparation and cross-border support
He accused Prime Minister Johnston and his government of having no real plan beyond hoping the EU presidency change will alter outcomes. He called on his government to urgently prepare for the worst, help businesses brace for an economic shock, and work closely with colleagues in Northern Ireland to stand with communities and businesses on both sides of the border.
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The UK joint committee meeting tomorrow at which the implementation of the withdrawal agreement including the critically important protocol in Northern Ireland will be considered will be extremely important for people across all of this island but most particularly for communities in my home region on both sides of the border. Given the backdrop of negative comments and analysis unfortunately we cannot be confident of progress. The findings in the recent report to the British think tank UK and a changing Europe refer to the time being short the gap between the two sides and the economic impact and negative negative economic impact and political ramifications of a no deal. On the specific issue of the Northern Ireland protocol they say that there has been some progress by Britain in meeting its commitments to have agreed arrangements up and running by the end of the year but very worryingly they also say that there is still a lot of detail to be clarified and the businesses as especially small businesses will struggle to be ready. Local businesses in my constituency across the border region are already struggling to survive. We have seen them do outstanding work in recent days and weeks to get back to work and exit the lockdown while protecting as many jobs and livelihoods as possible. We have seen local communities rally to support local retailers and businesses by shopping local and supporting local producers but all this could be washed away by a hard December the 34th British British crash out that drags Northern Ireland out against its will and without the necessary preparations by the Tory government in Westminster. We can see that the only hint of a plan the Prime Minister Johnston and his government have right now is to do nothing and hope that the EU's attitude the UK might change when Germany takes the EU presidency. I do not think it is possible to overstate the scale of the damage that would follow a hard December 31st crash out. If the worst case scenario emerges our region and communities would effectively be held hostage and used as leverage by a Tory party driven by Brexit madness. This would not be the action of a good neighbour. The government needs to urgently and immediately prepare for the worst. It needs to help businesses as my colleague Deputy Hahi referred to prepare for an economic shock and needs to work closely with our colleagues in Northern Ireland to ensure that we stand with businesses and communities on both sides of the border. Thank you at Ciancorla.
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