Statement by TUV leader Jim Allister:-
“Among all the exaggeration of the benefits of ‘privileged access’ to the EU market, it is worth pointing out the scale of continuing access by GB to the EU single market for goods, without a Protocol or being part of that single market or its rules and without being governed by the EU Customs Code.
“As is clear from page 27 of this House of Commons document:
GB in 2022 (the latest year of statistics) sold £187.8 billion in goods to the EU. How could this be without the ‘privilege’ of the Protocol? Simply, because under the UK-EU Trade and Cooperation Agreement such exporting is relatively straightforward and unencumbered by the restraints of trade inflicted by the Protocol on GB-NI trade. Northern Ireland could equally trade with the EU under the UK-EU Trade and Cooperation Agreement.
“It might also be noted from these published statistics that NI’s exports to the EU are worth £5.9b, not the £8b recently asserted by Sir Jeffrey Donaldson.
“It should also be noted, at page 29, that the UK’s trade with the EU has increased, not decreased since Brexit came into effect!”