Dear Secretary of State,
I refer to your letter of today’s date.
I take no issue with the reduction in salary, but I do strongly take issue with the lamentable failure of HMG to restore Northern Ireland’s position wholly within the United Kingdom.
Last week, when your instructions caused it be be argued on your behalf in the Supreme Court that Article 6 of the Acts of Union has been ‘disapplied’, you confirmed the dire constitutional consequences of the Protocol which you continue to uphold. Yet, your failure to recognise the nexus between this unbearable situation and the position in the Assembly demonstrates a concerning disconnect in government thinking.
How you expect any unionist to implement a Protocol which operates on the basis that GB is a foreign country and that the Assembly itself is prohibited from legislating on areas where sovereignty has been surrendered to a foreign legislature (European Parliament), is beyond my comprehension and loyalty to the Union. Yet, you align yourself with such implementation and dismantling of the Union and proclaim faith in blind alley negotiations with the EU which cannot, by reason of the EU’s restrictive mandate, resolve the sovereignty issues of the Protocol.
Meanwhile the much trumpeted Protocol Bill, unlike the fast-tracking of The Northern Ireland (Executive Formation etc) Act 2022, languishes in protracted parliamentary process.
The conclusion that HMG has lost its will to deal effectively with the Protocol is irresistible.
Yours sincerely,