Statement by TUV Leader Jim Allister QC MLA:
“In its demands to separate out Northern Ireland from the rest of the United Kingdom, demanding alignment with its Single Market and Customs Union, the EU is not just behaving like a bully boy but is flagrantly breaching its own Treaty pledges, most particularly, Art 4[2] of TEU.
“Art 4(2) of Treaty on European Union [TEU] is clear:-
The Union shall respect the equality of Member States before the Treaties as well as their national identities, inherent in their fundamental structures, political and constitutional, inclusive of regional and local self-government. It shall respect their essential State functions, including ensuring the territorial integrity of the State, maintaining law and order and safeguarding national security. In particular, national security remains the sole responsibility of each Member State.
“There is anything but respect for our national identity and territorial integrity in the EU’s belligerent approach. Indeed, their demands go so far as to expect the U.K. to breach its own laws.
“Section 55 (1) of the Taxation (Cross-Border Trade) Act 2018 is emphatic:-
“It shall be unlawful for Her Majesty’s Government to enter into arrangements under which Northern Ireland forms part of a separate customs territory to Great Britain.”
“Yet, this is precisely to what the EU aspires.
“Likewise, Art 6 of The Act of Union 1800 guaranteed our position in the U.K. Single Market, but what does the EU care!
“This whole EU/Dublin assault on Northern Ireland’s position as part of the U.K. speaks to their disrespect, from the outset of the Brexit process, of the territorial integrity of the United Kingdom. As a nation we delivered a single national verdict, but to this day Varadkar and others dispute it by demanding separate treatment of Northern Ireland. It is no coincidence that the separate treatment they demand places us within the economic orbit of the Republic and semi-detached from the U.K.
“A regulatory border on goods and a customs border in the Irish Sea has inescapable constitutional consequences. From the window ledge of the Union it is much easier to finish the job of all-Ireland absorption.
“Hence, the craven folly of any Unionist aiding and abetting that process of disintegration. As for those sucked in by a fatuous promise of a “unionist veto”, its time they found reverse gear before it is too late. The onus on them is immense!”