Statement by TUV leader Jim Allister:
“As I have repeatedly warned, Government assurances about there not being a border in the Irish Sea have proven to be false.
“There is now a fundamental challenge faced by Unionists Ministers. Paragraph 34 of the protocol published today makes clear that the Executive has a key role in establishing barriers to trade with our biggest market, Great Britain. The Government states that it is already “taking … forward” plans for expanded infrastructure at our ports and airports with the Executive.
“How does this square with the DUP’s loud protests about an Irish Sea border?
“While this protocol only deals with checks on goods coming from Great Britain to Northern Ireland, I fear that there will in future also be checks on goods from Northern Ireland to GB as the EU seeks to flood the UK market through Northern Ireland.
“Not so long ago Boris Johnson spoke of these sort of proposals as tearing at the very fabric of the Union. His pledge that no UK Prime Minister could ever agree to such has been spectacularly torn up. It is betrayal of the highest order, made all the worse by repeated assurances that it would not happen.”