Mike Nesbitt questions whether the Windsor Framework is legal under international law

New leader Mike Nesbitt addressing the Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) conference at the Crowne Plaza in Belfast, remotely due to having contracted Covid-19. Photo: Liam McBurney/PA Wire

The UUP leader has used his conference speech to question the effect of the Windsor Framework on the territorial integrity of the United Kingdom – and whether it is therefore compliant with international law.

The new leader addressed Brexit issues over recent years, and the consequences of the Windsor Framework on Northern Ireland’s constitutional position.

He suggested that European leaders should afford the same rights to Northern Ireland within the UK as they do to any other state on the continent.

Mr Nesbitt told delegates: “I suggest the biggest disruption to devolution and societal stability in the last 26 years was Brexit. I know some of you were with me in Templepatrick in 2016 when we agreed our policy would be to support Remain.

“My analysis was that whatever Brexit might deliver for England, Scotland or Wales, it would be bad for Northern Ireland. Bad for the border. Bad for our sense of identity.

“I’m not going to dwell further, save to acknowledge we are still grappling with those issues, not least the impact on trade and the outworkings of the Windsor Framework, a development from the Ireland / Northern Ireland Protocol, which itself is a product of Brexit.

“The Protocol / Windsor Framework is an international agreement. Maros Sefcovic, Michel Barnier, Simon Coveney and many others have all made that point. But does the Framework respect a fundamental tenet of international law?

“Does it demonstrate respect for the territorial integrity of the state. The meaning of the word ‘integrity’ is clear: it means whole and undivided. It’s that simple.

“All I want is the provision of the same rights, the same stability and the same principles as applied throughout Europe. Look at the Ukraine, look at the Middle East, look around the world, if you are in any doubt about the importance people place on territorial integrity – and the lengths people will go to in order to protect it, or demand it.

“Our vision is clear and our message is positive. We say yes to the same rights, same stability and same principles for governance - including accommodation of minorities - that operate elsewhere in the democratic world”.