“I am deeply concerned to learn of the proposed cessation of activity and site closure of Lurgan hauliers Morgan McLernon in my constituency.
Morgan McLernon is a major employer in Upper Bann and is part of the Culina group, the largest UK haulier of chilled and ambient products.
I have been shown the letter from management to workers which explains that despite their best efforts, this decision has become unavoidable because of the negative implications of Brexit in Northern Ireland which are of course defined by the difficulties arising from the imposition of a border down the Irish Sea.
The volume of trade movements across the Irish Sea has been falling since the imposition of the Irish Sea border and particularly since the announcement of the Windsor Framework in February this year as retailers have prepared for the introduction of the Windsor border on October 1st.
It is clear that haulage companies based in
Northern Ireland whose business model is predicated on being part of the
United Kingdom economy are in real difficulty because of this.
In May it was widely reported that a leading supermarket had advised
retailers that the policy of seeking to sustain supermarket operations
in Northern Ireland on the basis of the green lane would be the death
knell of any supermarket business and that in order to survive under
Windsor, supermarkets must get as much of their product as possible from
the Republic of Ireland, avoiding the border with its green and red
lanes whenever possible.
The underlying economic changes that inform this announcement clearly demonstrate how the Protocol/Windsor Framework is increasingly replacing the UK economy with a GB economy and attempting to put Northern Ireland in the same economy as the Republic of Ireland.
I will continue to work at Westminster
alongside DUP colleagues to mitigate and undo the damage caused by the
Protocol/Windsor Framework and will work with employees locally to
support them through what is a very difficult time.”