Speaking last night to the Central Council of TUV, leader Jim Allister expressed disappointment at the lacklustre opposition of many unionist politicians to the Protocol.
“The truth is that grassroots loyalists have done much more to highlight the dangers and iniquities of the Protocol and protest its imposition than many politicians paid to represent their rightly dismayed constituents. Indeed some, to their shame, are day and daily implementing it – the very instrument which the High Court has ruled has repealed a cornerstone of the Union.
“By their peaceful protests, social media platforms and engagement, grassroots loyalists are streets ahead of the politicians. It’s time some woke up and caught up!
“Loyalism is not something to be sneered at – Alliance and Simon Hoare style, or misrepresented as paramilitarism, but respected for its place, both historically and today, in the unionist community. TUV rejects proscribed organisations and criminality, but we do not and will not shun grassroots loyalists.
“It is loyalty to our Britishness which causes all loyalists, TUV included, to eschew a Protocol that is dismantling the Union before our eyes.”
Moving forward, the TUV Central Council put in place mechanisms, through its branches, to strengthen engagement with grassroots loyalists in the bands and community scene.