Draft Movement of Goods (Northern Ireland to Great Britain) (Animals, Feed and Food, Plant Health etc.) (Transitory Provision and Miscellaneous Amendments) Regulations 2024
375Ayes
9Noes
Carried · majority 366 · Government won266 did not vote
650 Members · Aye 375 · No 9 · DNV 266 · grey dots in centre are abstentions
Analysis
Commons
Commons
On 11 December 2024, Parliament voted on the Draft Movement of Goods (Northern Ireland to Great Britain) (Animals, Feed and Food, Plant Health etc.) (Transitory Provision and Miscellaneous Amendments) Regulations 2024. The motion passed by 375 votes to 9, an overwhelming majority, approving a set of regulations governing how animals, food, feed and plants move from Northern Ireland into Great Britain under post-Brexit arrangements. These regulations establish practical rules for the movement of agricultural and food goods from Northern Ireland to Great Britain, forming part of the ongoing work to implement the post-Brexit trading framework. They affect farmers, food producers, veterinary professionals and retailers who move goods across the Irish Sea in this direction. By providing transitory provisions, the regulations give businesses and authorities a working legal basis during what remains a complex period of adjustment to new trading arrangements following the United Kingdom's departure from the European Union. The vote was notable for its breadth of cross-party support, with Labour, the Liberal Democrats, the Scottish National Party, Plaid Cymru and the Greens all voting in favour, alongside almost all independents. The nine votes against came almost entirely from unionist parties: five Democratic Unionist Party MPs, one Traditional Unionist Voice MP, and one Conservative MP voted no, reflecting ongoing unionist concerns about post-Brexit arrangements affecting Northern Ireland's relationship with the rest of the United Kingdom. This vote sits within a broader sequence of parliamentary activity on Windsor Framework implementation and Northern Ireland trade, with similar measures passing in November 2024 and January 2025.
Voting Aye meant
Support putting temporary biosecurity and sanitary controls in place for goods moving from Northern Ireland to Great Britain, ensuring food and plant safety standards are maintained during the transition period.
Voting No meant
Oppose these temporary regulations, potentially questioning the need for such controls or the lack of an impact assessment for the measures.
Each row is one party. The stacked bar gives the within-party split of Aye / No / Absent; the columns on the right give the raw counts. The whip column shows the published party position — “Free vote” means the whip was formally removed for this division.
Party
Whip
Aye / No / Abs
Aye
No
Abs
Labour Party
Whipped Aye
268
0
93
Conservative and Unionist Party
—
1
1
114
Liberal Democrats
Whipped Aye
54
0
18
Labour and Co-operative Party
Whipped Aye
31
0
11
Independent
—
4
0
10
Scottish National Party
Whipped Aye
7
0
2
Reform UK
—
0
0
7
Sinn Féin
—
0
0
7
Democratic Unionist Party
Whipped No
0
5
0
Green Party of England and Wales
Whipped Aye
3
0
1
Plaid Cymru
Whipped Aye
4
0
0
Social Democratic and Labour Party
—
1
0
1
Alliance Party of Northern Ireland
—
1
0
0
Restore Britain
—
0
1
0
Speaker
—
0
0
1
Traditional Unionist Voice
—
0
1
0
Ulster Unionist Party
—
0
1
0
Your Party
—
0
0
1
Source · Hansard · UK Parliament Votes API · whip status from announced positions; “free vote” indicates the whip was formally removed
The regulations are necessary to apply biosecurity controls to EU and rest-of-world goods entering GB through NI, while maintaining unfettered access for qualifying NI goods; they are temporary pending a long-term border control model.Labour · Voted aye · Read full speech (2,245 words) →
While welcoming unfettered access for qualifying goods, the Opposition have significant concerns about impacts on non-qualifying goods and smooth trade; they will abstain and seek monitoring of business impacts.Conservative · Voted no_vote_recorded · Read full speech (461 words) →
The regulations are a consequence of an unjust decision to divide Northern Ireland from the UK; they create disruptive trade barriers and expose NI to EU goods without reciprocal checks, while the principle of checks away from borders could apply to GB-NI trade.DUP · Voted no · Read full speech (1,250 words) →
The regulations formalise a flawed arrangement stemming from the Irish Sea border; they create constitutional damage and economic harm without clarity on enforcement, and the irony is that flexible away-from-border checks for NI-GB trade could equally apply to the land border.DUP · Voted no · Read full speech (654 words) →
The regulations expose a fundamental governmental contradiction: they claim checks away from borders cannot work for GB-NI trade but propose exactly that for NI-GB trade; recovery of sovereignty over NI is needed to enable symmetrical, two-way check arrangements.TUV · Voted no · Read full speech (843 words) →
The regulations lack clarity on how they will be communicated to businesses, what physical infrastructure will be needed, and how costs will be managed; businesses need better support from the trader support service.UUP · Voted no · Read full speech (361 words) →
If the long-term approach extends beyond 1 July 2025, an impact assessment should be prepared for the draft regulations since none was done due to their temporary nature.Labour · Voted no_vote_recorded · Read full speech (78 words) →
Sources
Division dataUK Parliament Votes API
DebateHansard · Commons
Stance analysisAI analysis · Claude 4.x
LicenceOpen Parliament Licence v3.0