British Minister: “We must show that we can be trusted again”

The United Kingdom must show the EU that it can be "trusted again" after its reputation was "ruined" by the previous government, according to a senior British minister who said it signed agreements with no intention of keeping them.

Trade between Great Britain and Northern Ireland has become very complicated since the United Kingdom's exit from the EU. A 2023 agreement known as the Windsor Framework went some way to easing tensions, and an SPS (Sanitary and Phytosanitary) agreement , which both sides committed to negotiating last month , would go even further.

A forthcoming deal in which the United Kingdom accepts EU rules on food and drink in return for drastically reduced controls and red tape has received “almost unanimous support from business in Northern Ireland,” Hilary Benn, UK Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, told Euractiv in Brussels.

However, the proposed agreement is politically sensitive. It has been praised by the nationalist community in Northern Ireland, which favors a return to the EU via Irish reunification, as well as by the Irish government . Conversely, some unionists, who blocked the formation of local government for two years because of post-Brexit arrangements, fear that the deal will bring Northern Ireland unacceptably close to Dublin and Brussels while simultaneously isolating them from Britain. Nationalists and unionists share power in Northern Ireland as part of the 1998 Good Friday Agreement, which ended a decades-long sectarian conflict known as "The Troubles."

What follows is an edited version of the interview, which has been shortened for reasons of length and clarity.

Euractiv: You came to Brussels to meet with EU Trade Commissioner Maroš Šefčovič. What did you discuss?

Hilary Benn: The atmosphere was very good. It was another opportunity to thank him for the agreement between the UK and the EU and to report on how well the SPS part of the agreement was received in Northern Ireland.

We've received really positive feedback from the Ulster Farmers Union , supermarkets, the Retail Consortium , and the horticultural trade . It's rare for anything related to the EU to receive near-unanimous support from the business community in Northern Ireland.

And why do you think they are so positive?

Once we've done everything necessary to translate the agreement into concrete changes on the ground, they'll see that certificates and paperwork will no longer be required in the agri-food and crop sector. Furthermore, the UK will now be able to sell shellfish and cured meats to the EU, and the EU will be able to import them back in return.

This is an excellent example of the new perspective brought by the Labour government elected in July 2024. We said we wanted a close relationship with the EU. We wanted to make progress in a number of areas. And I think we saw that in the agreement we concluded.

Foreign Secretary David Lammy said the deal merely "halts the decline" of EU-UK relations. Do you agree that there is still a long way to go?

The previous government signed agreements with no intention of keeping them. That was absolutely disastrous for trust. We need to show that we can be trusted again, because Britain's reputation was frankly ruined by the last government.

You can see and feel that relations are more positive, just as relations between the United Kingdom and the Irish government have changed since we took office. The signing of the agreement at the summit is a truly practical expression of that.

Do you have any idea when the SPS agreement might be concluded?

I won't predict a timeline. But what are the two most important tasks? The first is to negotiate the legal text, which will take some time. And then the UK needs to ensure that our legislation is fully up to date and in line with current EU rules.

Does the Windsor Framework ultimately need to be reopened and renegotiated to enable the “restart”?

The SPS Agreement will build on the Windsor Framework – this is important to understand.

Maroš Šefčovič has been a strong advocate for the Windsor Framework. He understands the political sensitivities in Northern Ireland.

[Following the agreement on the Windsor Framework], Northern Ireland's purchases from the rest of the UK increased in 2023. So, when people claim that the Windsor Framework is having a terrible impact on the flow of goods from Great Britain to Northern Ireland, that, unfortunately, is not the statistics.

Those saying this come almost exclusively from the unionist community—who, at best, are lukewarm about the agreement, as it means more EU law applies in Northern Ireland. Are you concerned about their reaction?

For those who don't like the rules, it's quite simple: when we left the EU, there was one set of rules in the UK, another in the EU, and an open border between the two.

A pragmatic approach is needed to solve this fundamental problem that Brexit has raised. And the fact that Northern Ireland's economy is doing well, that we have just negotiated the outlines of an SPS agreement that is being welcomed by businesses—that's what I call progress, and I believe in progress.