Boris Johnson, The Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Northern Ireland, has unlawfully implemented the Northern Ireland Protocol. This puts a border down the Irish Sea and fundamentally changes the constitutional position of Northern Ireland, resulting in immense damage and threatening the Union of the United Kingdom. 

We have launched a Judicial Review to end the Protocol. Please join us to protect Northern Ireland and the Union of the United Kingdom

The leaders of the three main Unionist parties, including the former First Minister of Northern Ireland, Lord Trimble (the Nobel Peace Prize winning architect of the Belfast Agreement), Baroness Catharine Hoey and former MEP Ben Habib, have launched a legal challenge against the Protocol.

We have instructed Nelson Singleton Solicitors, John Larkin QC (former attorney general of Northern Ireland) and Denise Kiley BL, to seek a judicial review of the Protocol and its implementing regulations.

The Protocol breaches the Act of Union 1800, the Northern Ireland Act 1998, the Belfast Agreement and indeed the Article 50 process laid out in the treaties for the European Union. The new border down the Irish Sea is a powerful symbol of Northern Ireland’s resulting severance from Great Britain.

This change has been foisted on Northern Ireland by the EU and the British Government, without the approval of the people of Northern Ireland and without requiring the cross community consent that is a vital element of the Belfast Agreement.

It is high time for the Prime Minister to take decisive action to deal with the problem once and for all, rather than kicking the can down the road. The Protocol MUST GO before any further damage is done.

Call to action 

Please support us to protect Northern Ireland, remove the border in the Irish Sea and preserve the Union of the United Kingdom.

Who are we? 

Complete list of Complainants:-

Steve Aiken OBE, MLA, UUP Leader

Jim Allister QC, MLA, TUV Leader

Rt Hon Arlene Foster MLA, DUP Leader and First Minister

Ben Habib, former MEP for London

Baroness Catharine Hoey

Rt Hon the Lord Trimble

What are we trying to achieve? 

On 9th December 2020, The Secretary of State, Brandon Lewis, unlawfully varied the Northern Ireland Act 1998, and undermined the Belfast Agreement by replacing its consent provisions with the consent mechanisms set out in the Protocol.

The Prime Minister repeatedly stated in Parliament that there would not be a border down the Irish Sea. In September 2020 he launched the Internal Market Bill, designed to unpick certain aspects of the Protocol – legislation that he said was vital because the Protocol threatened the fabric of the United Kingdom. Then, without explanation, the aspects of that Bill which dealt with the Protocol were dropped.

To ensure respect for the Act of Union 1800 and the Belfast Agreement the Protocol must be removed and replaced.

The Protocol has never been required. It is nonsense to suggest that a light-touch customs border on the island of Ireland would breach the 1998 Belfast Agreement. There is already a border on the island of Ireland and the Belfast Agreement unambiguously confirmed its existence.

As if to emphasise the falsity of the EU’s own claim, that there cannot be a border on the island of Ireland, along came the EU’s own momentary suspension of the Protocol on 29th January 2021. A suspension prompted by a desire to prevent the supply of life-saving vaccines reaching Northern Ireland and Great Britain.

What is the next step in the case? 

An application for leave to apply for judicial review was filed on 5th March 2021 and we expect a determination by 13th April 2021. If successful, the case should be heard in the High Court on 13th May 2021.

How much we are raising and why? 

We are raising money to cover the cost of legal advice, as well as applying for and conducting a judicial review of the Protocol. 

We expect the case to cost up to £150,000 in legal fees. ALL funds raised will go to covering legal costs and nothing else.

We will report back to you at every stage of the process by posting updates on this website.

Huge thanks for your support and please share this page with friends and colleagues and on social media!