Boris Johnson's "mistake" over Northern Ireland protocol

Chris Heaton-Harris, Northern Ireland secretary, has told Times Radio that Boris Johnson should be allowed his "mistake" over the Northern Ireland protocol, saying that his work with the EU led to the eventual agreement on the Windsor framework. Speaking to John Piennar, he also said the ERG are "wrong" to oppose the framework.

He defended Boris Johnson's record on Northern Ireland:

"He built us credibility amongst many EU countries that gave us the opportunity later to build the Windsor framework."

"I genuinely think that Boris thought the Northern Ireland protocol would solve problems not create them."

John Piennar: "He certainly opposed the framework that you're celebrating here today."

Chris Heaton-Harris: "Yeah and as I say, everybody's allowed to make one mistake."

He denied it was ironic as long-time Brexiteer and former chair of the European Research Group, to now be celebrating the Windsor framework:

"You've got all the benefits of a United Kingdom that has left the European Union, we just signed a trade deal with the CPTPP countries. So you get all the benefits that can flow from the new Brexit freedoms we have, and goods from Northern Ireland manufactured in Northern Ireland have access to the European single market...But you don't have all the other EU laws that would have existed had we been members of the European Union So it's a completely different constitutional position."

John Piennar: "Your old friends and colleagues in the European Research Group, who are still standing firm against the Windsor framework, are they misguided or dogmatic?"

Chris Heaton-Harris: "I'd humbly say that they were wrong... as we said when we brought the Windsor framework to everyone's attention, we thought that was a reasonable solution."

"I think in the vote, there weren't that many that didn't agree."

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