Following the Prime Minister’s statement on the G7 and NATO Summits, James Sunderland asks the PM about informal support for the UK position on the trade frictions currently being experienced due to the Northern Ireland protocol.
James Sunderland (Bracknell) (Con)
The Prime Minister will have enjoyed formal and less formal dialogue with EU leaders at the G7. May I ask him whether any empathy was expressed for the trade frictions that we are currently experiencing with the Northern Ireland protocol at the behest of a third party? Was there any sense that the EU might acquiesce to unilateral action by this country because of the frankly bonkers situation in which the UK cannot sell sausages to the UK?
The Prime Minister (Boris Johnson)
My hon. Friend puts the matter very succinctly. There are many ways in which we are seeing the disproportionate and unnecessary application of the protocol. I think our partners understand that, and we are hoping for some pragmatic solutions before too long.