A Northern Ireland minister illegally tried to stop Brexit checks – court

By: MRT Desk

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A Northern Ireland minister illegally tried to stop Brexit checks - court

Northern Ireland’s agriculture minister acted illegally in February when he ordered an immediate halt to controls on food and agricultural products from Britain bound for Northern Ireland under post-Brexit trade rules, the High Court in Belfast ruled on Thursday.

The Feb. 2 order by then-minister Edwin Poots never came into force, after the High Court said two days later that import controls should remain in place, pending the outcome of a judicial review of the matter.

Judge Adrian Colton said on Thursday that the instruction by Poots, a member of the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP), which favours the territory’s membership of Britain and opposed to controls, was apparently motivated by political rather than legal considerations.

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