Upper Bann in the Northern Ireland MP Ms Carla Lockhart has written to the Chancellor to request that he suspend the 25% tariff on steel products entering Northern Ireland, as a result of the Northern Ireland Protocol, after EU quotas for global imports were exhausted. Ms Lockhart wrote “The impact of this tariff will be felt right across our construction sector. Any family building a new home will be hit in the pocket. New house prices will rise. The cost of building new schools, new hospitals, new road infrastructure will rocket. Constructions costs are already at record highs. Due to the Protocol, they are about to go even higher. This tariff will also place our local manufacturing sector at a competitive disadvantage. At a time when so many costs have increased and margins are hard to keep in profit, this is the last thing our manufacturing industry need. Manufacturers in Ballymena or Portadown should not be at a disadvantage with manufacturers in Bristol or Plymouth.”She wrote “We must have that equilibrium within our UK internal market restored. We need the Government to step in now to suspend these tariffs. We have heard during the debates in the House that the Government believes such measures are wrong, so now we have a test for the Government – back up your words with action.”She added “I hope other parties, for whom the Protocol is some kind of sacred cow, will recognize the damage the Protocol is doing and support this call. Let us not forget this is the Protocol in light touch mode, the full implantation of the Protocol is yet to come.”She concluded “Should it ever be 'rigorously implemented' as demanded by Sinn Fein, the SDLP and the Alliance Party, it will spell further economic damage to Northern Ireland. It is time for a new way forward that supports our economy.”Ms Carla was elected to Craigavon Borough Council in 2007, representing the Lurgan area, before stepping down in 2016 to run for the Assembly elections. She worked full-time in the Lurgan DUP Advice Centre, whilst working as a councillor. From a farming background in South Tyrone, she is a business graduate of Ulster University. In 2019, Carla won the Upper Bann Election to become its newest MP, subsequently stepping down as an MLA.
Upper Bann in the Northern Ireland MP Ms Carla Lockhart has written to the Chancellor to request that he suspend the 25% tariff on steel products entering Northern Ireland, as a result of the Northern Ireland Protocol, after EU quotas for global imports were exhausted. Ms Lockhart wrote “The impact of this tariff will be felt right across our construction sector. Any family building a new home will be hit in the pocket. New house prices will rise. The cost of building new schools, new hospitals, new road infrastructure will rocket. Constructions costs are already at record highs. Due to the Protocol, they are about to go even higher. This tariff will also place our local manufacturing sector at a competitive disadvantage. At a time when so many costs have increased and margins are hard to keep in profit, this is the last thing our manufacturing industry need. Manufacturers in Ballymena or Portadown should not be at a disadvantage with manufacturers in Bristol or Plymouth.”She wrote “We must have that equilibrium within our UK internal market restored. We need the Government to step in now to suspend these tariffs. We have heard during the debates in the House that the Government believes such measures are wrong, so now we have a test for the Government – back up your words with action.”She added “I hope other parties, for whom the Protocol is some kind of sacred cow, will recognize the damage the Protocol is doing and support this call. Let us not forget this is the Protocol in light touch mode, the full implantation of the Protocol is yet to come.”She concluded “Should it ever be 'rigorously implemented' as demanded by Sinn Fein, the SDLP and the Alliance Party, it will spell further economic damage to Northern Ireland. It is time for a new way forward that supports our economy.”Ms Carla was elected to Craigavon Borough Council in 2007, representing the Lurgan area, before stepping down in 2016 to run for the Assembly elections. She worked full-time in the Lurgan DUP Advice Centre, whilst working as a councillor. From a farming background in South Tyrone, she is a business graduate of Ulster University. In 2019, Carla won the Upper Bann Election to become its newest MP, subsequently stepping down as an MLA.
