A file image of a UK Parliament session in progress.
Credit: Reuters Photo
London: Britain's parliament voted on Thursday in favour of revamping post-Brexit trade rules in Northern Ireland, paving the way for the return of the region's power-sharing government for the first time in almost two years.
Lawmakers in the House of Commons approved the changes, without formal votes, including reducing checks on goods travelling from Britain to Northern Ireland, addressing the biggest grievance of the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP).
The DUP, whose supporters want to remain an integral part of the United Kingdom, has said once the changes are approved, it will give the go-ahead for the restoration of devolved government, a key part of a 1998 peace deal that ended decades of sectarian and political violence.
Northern Ireland has been without devolved government since the DUP walked out in protest the post-Brexit trade rules, which it said created barriers with the rest of the United Kingdom and undermined Northern Ireland's place in it.
The speaker of Northern Ireland's assembly has told lawmakers they could be recalled to elect a new power-sharing government within 24 hours once the parties indicate to him that they are ready to do so.
Local politicians have said the sitting could happen as soon as Saturday, with Irish nationalists Sinn Fein due to take the First Minister role for the first time after securing the most seats in the region's 2022 election.
Speaking in the debate in Britain's parliament, Northern Ireland minister Chris Heaton-Harris said the changes addressed concerns that the region's status within the United Kingdom had been diminished.
"The regulations demonstrate that the government has listened, so that trust can be rebuilt, so that people and businesses can be reassured of being in the UK's long-term future, and so that we can see Northern Ireland's political institutions restored," he said.
The 1998 Good Friday Agreement ended three decades of violence between Irish nationalists, who want a united Ireland, loyalists, who support British rule, and the British Army.
The measures voted on include eliminating any physical checks when goods move within the so-called UK internal market system and that more than 80 per cent of all goods from Britain to Northern Ireland would not face checks.