The House of Commons voted overwhelmingly in favour of the ‘Stormont Brake’ yesterday, which effectively confirms the approval of the government’s Northern Ireland trade deal.

This ballot was the only chance that parliament had to reject the Windsor Framework, as there will be no further votes on the new deal according to the government.

With the EU voting and passing the key components of the deal earlier this week, we expect the deal to now be phased in during the course of this year.

Two former Prime Ministers, Johnson and Trust, were amongst only 29 voters that opposed the deal, as were Northern Ireland’s DUP party. 515 MP’s voted in favour of the deal.

The key components of the new deal include:

• Goods from Britain destined for Northern Ireland will travel through a new “green lane”, with a separate “red lane” for goods at risk of moving on to the EU.
• Products coming into Northern Ireland through the green lane will see checks and paperwork significantly reduced, while red lane goods will still be subject to normal checks.
• A “Stormont brake” allows the Northern Ireland Assembly to raise an objection to “significantly different” new EU rules which would apply in Northern Ireland.
• Northern Ireland would also no longer have to follow certain EU rules, for example on VAT and excise for some drinks and goods.