By Justin Madders

MP for Ellesmere Port

Three years after we actually left the EU and nearly seven years after the country voted to leave the EU it seems that an end to the negotiations regarding our departure may finally be in sight.

The Prime Minister announced on Monday that he had secured a significant changes to the original Northern Ireland Protocol which had been a major stumbling block throughout the whole Brexit process. The Windsor framework will create a new green lane for traders, scrapping all trade restrictions between Great Britain and Northern Ireland and new freedoms for medicines, chilled meats and pets to move over the Irish Sea. It will also give Ministers at Stormont a direct say in EU laws applying to Northern Ireland and it is hoped that this deal will allow the resumption of the Northern Ireland Assembly which hasn’t met for a year because of related concerns.

At the heart of the deal are three main issues: physical checks on trade to Northern Ireland from the rest of the UK, the role of the European court of justice and the application of EU law. The majority of controls and checks will end for goods destined to remain in Northern Ireland and the EU which it is hoped will provide a boost for the Northern Ireland economy.

The Tory party has always been riven by divisions on Europe and the reaction from the Prime Minister’s Eurosceptic backbenchers will be important although if there is any vote on this in Parliament it will be approved because the Labour Party have already committed to supporting it. Key to Tory backbenchers response though will be the attitude of Boris Johnson whose original deal this changes substantially. It does beg the question why Rishi Sunak as a key part of his Government was able to support the original agreement if it did need to be changed so much, but at the time of writing we have not heard from Boris Johnson and the sense I get is that there is not much significant disquiet on the Tory backbenches for Johnson to react to. The response of those MPs sent to Parliament from Northern Ireland will also be important and the DUP will be key to this.

On a separate note, last Friday marked the retirement of my Office Manager for the last 7 years, Sue Pugh. Any MP will tell you that the smooth running of your constituency office is central to being an effective MP and there is no doubt Sue has done a first class job in ensuring constituents get a good service on the wide range of issues they come to see me about. Sue has in fact been involved in Ellesmere Port politics for over 30 years and worked for Andrew Miller for many years prior to his retirement, as well as being a councillor on the old Borough Council and a key part of the North West Regional Party. Every political party needs people like Sue who are prepared to do all the hard work behind the scenes and I am sorry to see her go. Having seen how much she has contributed over the years though I can confidently say she has earnt her retirement!