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Former Secretary of State Sir Brandon Lewis said in late 2020 that reintroducing direct rule in Northern Ireland was the “only option” to interfere if Stormont ministers failed to agree on Covid measures.
The council entered a tense moment within the executive as ministers discussed whether to implement further lockdown measures due to concerns about emerging infections.
In early November, a series of executive meetings were held that lasted four days as ministers struggled to reach an agreement.
In the midst of all this, Sir Brandon reported that his powers of intervention were limited and that direct rule was the only option.
Northern Ireland has not been governed through London since 2007.
A briefing paper was published on the UK’s Covid-19 research website on Thursday evening, titled Legal Scenario If the NI Executive Fails on Replacement Regulations, dated November 11, 2020.
This happened in the second week of three weeks of inquiry sessions in Belfast after Sir Brandon testified in which he feared the newly restored transferred government might give way in the autumn of 2020.
The document says the circuit breaker regulations are set to expire on Dec. 13, adding that it is “unclear” that the executive “considers this as a strict deadline. “
He said the British government’s powers to interfere in fitness policy in Northern Ireland “are limited. “
“The transfer agreement in the UK transfers strength over fitness to the transferred establishments in Northern Ireland. The Secretary of State has no power to interfere when he considers that an executive decision, or the lack of a decision, has had negative consequences for Northern Ireland. ,” it reads.
“Any resolution to interfere, especially where establishments continue to operate, would lead to calls for the British government to interfere in other spaces where establishments are at an impasse.
“In general, the only possibility for the government that wanted to intervene would be to resort to law number one to introduce a direct rule.
“In the past, direct government has given the Secretary of State the strength to do everything that a Northern Ireland minister could do, and so this applies to all devolved policy areas. “
The briefing note goes on to say that it has already been tested whether a direct rule can be applied in an express and limited way in the context of a conceivable no-deal Brexit and in the absence of an executive.
“A limited form of direct rule would be complex and unprecedented, and would bring the threat that any limited force created would not be broad enough to achieve the objectives. “
Meanwhile, an exchange of WhatsApp messages posted online during the investigation on Thursday revealed a complaint about then-taoiseach Leo Varadkar’s strategy to start the pandemic through DUP ministers and advisers.
A series of messages between Peter Weir, then education minister, then agriculture minister Edwin Poots, and then-advisers Emma Little-Pengelly and Philip Weir, were also among the evidence from the Covid-19 investigation published on its site on Thursday night.
The messages date from March 14, 2020 to November 11, 2020.
In a message dated 14 March, referring to the resolution to close schools in Ireland and Sinn Féin’s complaint of not following the example of the Republic, Mr Poots said: “Leo ignored the recommendation and did what he did to justify a grand coalition. . . »
Peter Weir responded: “The majority of the executive takes a moderate position on this point. Basically, public health and saving lives are the only considerations, so the CMO (chief medical officer) is a must-have user for Derry’s Dan , who is declaiming over the phone to his local SF (Sinn Fein) MP We have to be the adults in the room, and the tone and the correct policy are measured and reassuring.
In a subsequent publication, Peter Weir called it a “fallacious argument” that Northern Ireland “automatically adheres to a pan-Irish technique in line with foot-and-mouth disease/BSE”.
He added that this precept is compromised “by the fact that farm animals do not decide to travel to ski in northern Italy. “
Later in the document, the exchanges take a position on the impasse in which the executive finds itself in relation to the extension of restrictions in November 2020.
In messages dated Nov. 11, Poots said, “The Shinners need us to reject Diane’s proposal and force us to back down. “
He added, “Shouting at each other is like a continuation of our meeting,” and then said, “We can’t back down, they’re happy we do this, they just need to hurt us. “
Peter Weir responded, “It is brazen to be lectured on the Republican motion about the unacceptability of excess mortality. “
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