UK-EU deal is ‘very good news for Northern Ireland', Hilary Benn says
The Government's new deal with the European Union is 'very good news for Northern Ireland', Hilary Benn has insisted.
The Northern Ireland Secretary said the agreement will make it 'easier' for businesses to trade between the United Kingdom and Ireland.
Sir Keir Starmer said it showed 'Britain is back on the world stage'.
The Government claimed the post-Brexit 'reset' will cut red tape, boosting the economy by £9 billion by 2040.
Speaking in Westminster on Monday, Mr Benn said the deal had been welcomed by major supermarkets.
'It's very good news for the United Kingdom, but in particular for Northern Ireland, because when it comes into effect, it will mean for plants and food products moving from GB to Northern Ireland, all that paperwork, checks and other bureaucracy and added cost will go,' he told the PA news agency.
'That's why it's had such a warm welcome from the supermarkets, in particular Asda and M&S say it will reduce costs.'
Asked if businesses might still be mired in red tape because of the remaining customs border, he said: 'We've reduced that, so from May 1, the numbers of entries that people moving goods from GB to Northern Ireland have to put in their forms has been reduced from 75 to 21.
'So we've made it quite a bit easier for people to carry on trading.'
Asked about a march in support of Sean Brown's family on Friday, Mr Benn said he had the 'greatest sympathy'.
The home town of the GAA (Gaelic Athletic Association) official, murdered almost 30 years ago, came to a standstill when thousands showed their support for his family's call for a public inquiry.
Mr Brown, 61, the then chairman of the club in the Co Londonderry town, was ambushed, kidnapped and murdered by loyalist paramilitaries as he locked the gates of the club in May 1997.
'I've met the Brown family, and the murder of Sean Brown was deeply shocking and brutal,' he said.
The UK Government is seeking to appeal to the Supreme Court over a court ruling that ordered it to hold a public inquiry into the killing.
'I want there to be a full, thorough and independent investigation into his murder. The reason that the Government is appealing is there's a wider principle at stake here,' Mr Benn continued.
'But I have the greatest sympathy for the Brown family and all of the other families in Northern Ireland for what they have been through.'
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