House of Commons passes Bill to prevent Stormont collapse

Legislation to prevent any immediate collapse of Stormont's institutions has passed its latest stage in Westminster.

Its key purpose was to strengthen the stability of the executive if faced with another political crisis.

Earlier, a DUP MP warned the protocol presented the greatest threat to the future of Northern Ireland.

The legislation would extend the time to replace the first or deputy first minister in the event of a resignation from seven days to at least 24 weeks.

It would allow time for a "cooling-off" period if either the first or deputy first ministers resigned their roles.

Now the bill has passed its remaining stages in the House of Commons, it moves to the House of Lords at a later date, where it must also get approval and royal assent before becoming law.

Northern Ireland Secretary Brandon Lewis said the bill would deliver "necessary and well overdue reforms to strengthen the sustainability of the institutions in Northern Ireland".

Stormont collapsed in January 2017 when the two biggest parties - the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) and Sinn Féin - split in a bitter row over the DUP's handling of a green energy scandal.

The parties clashed after Sinn Féin said it would not go back into an executive with the DUP, unless legislation for an Irish language act was implemented.

Former Northern Ireland Secretary Julian Smith told Parliament there was a "clear and present danger" of Stormont collapsing again, unless legislation to delay that possibility was passed soon.

Mr Smith was in post when the New Decade New Approach deal was reached.

He said he was concerned one or more of the Stormont parties could "dive for the emergency escape hatch when things become too politically difficult".

"There are currently a number of issues that could tempt the parties.... this bill slams the cop-out option shut," he said.

SDLP leader Colum Eastwood said the bill presented an opportunity to "stop the crisis that we're looking down the barrel at".

Alliance Party deputy leader Stephen Farry said one of his "great frustrations" as a politician was that parties often "responded to the last crisis" too late.

Ulster Unionist Party leader Doug Beattie supported the move and earlier said he would like to see the bill fast-tracked.

DUP MP Ian Paisley told MPs that a "torpedo" had been fired at power-sharing.

He added that it was outside of the control of unionists and nationalists parties.

"That torpedo is the Northern Ireland Protocol and until and unless the governments resolves to do what it says in its command paper, that torpedo will hole those institutions below the line," said Mr Paisley.

"I would the urge the government to move now in invoking Article 16."

The protocol is the Brexit deal which prevents a hard Irish border by keeping Northern Ireland inside the EU's single market for goods.

That also creates a new trade border between Northern Ireland and the rest of the UK, something the EU accepts is causing difficulties for many businesses.

Unionist politicians say the arrangement undermines Northern Ireland's place in the UK.

The EU has suggested a package of reforms which would reduce the practical impacts of the protocol.

The UK wants more fundamental change, including the removal of the European Court of Justice (ECJ) from its oversight role in the deal.

But earlier the UK's Brexit minister said that the role of the European Court of Justice (ECJ) is not the only problem with the Northern Ireland Protocol.

Lord Frost told the House of Lords it meant "far too much EU law" applied in Northern Ireland.

He suggested drawing on the approach taken in the broader EU-UK deal, the Trade and Cooperation Agreement (TCA).

In that deal, there was "replication" where EU law was replaced by international law.

That cleared the way for disputes to be subject to arbitration, without a role for the ECJ.

"One way of dealing with the problem is replication, it's not the only way," Lord Frost said.

Theresa May's former Brexit advisor, Raoul Ruparel, said this approach was "not impossible and is definitely worth exploring as an option".

However, writing on Twitter, he said it would be a "huge undertaking" as the TCA is very different from the protocol.

He said the protocol "strays into much deeper areas of regulation than the TCA" and this approach would require the EU to accept "a separate set of rules governing an EU border which sits outside the ECJ".

Another Brexit expert, Mujtaba Rahman, of the Eurasia Group, expressed scepticism about whether the EU would consider this approach.

Also writing on Twitter, he said the TCA effectively relabelled "EU level playing field standards" as "international standards" but there was "no appetite to do that with the protocol".

Northern Ireland's Deputy First Minister Michelle O'Neill met Lord Frost and Northern Ireland Secretary Brandon Lewis on Tuesday to discuss the protocol and other issues.

She said he made it clear that local businesses and workers need "stability and certainty - they want solutions, and they want the protocol to work".

"The Tories and the DUP cannot be allowed to undermine the opportunities afforded to our businesses, manufacturers and farmers to create jobs and attract investment," Ms O'Neill said.

"The British government needs to work constructively with the EU so the north can avail of the opportunities of the protocol for new jobs and find solutions to practical issues."