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Peter Hain, the Labour former Northern Ireland secretary, has called for an official Norway-style involvement for Sinn Féin and the DUP in EU laws that apply in Belfast in an attempt to end the “democratic deficit” caused by Brexit.

He says political leaders should be made “ex officio” of the UK delegations on UK-EU bodies that discuss matters not just relevant to the protocol but also to devolved competence.

Boris Johnson and Lord Frost, endorsed by Rishi Sunak, negotiated a deal making Northern Ireland an EU rule-taker rather than, as the UK was before Brexit, an EU rule-maker.

These are practical, common sense solutions to a real problem which quite understandably exercises unionists, and I hope that UK ministers, the Irish government and the EU will support them.

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Source: The Guardian