Statement by TUV leader Jim Allister:-
“In welcoming the DUP decision to vote against the limited Statutory Instrument debate, it is imperative that Unionism stands firm and makes it abundantly clear that the Windsor Framework is incapable of restoring U.K. sovereignty over NI and expunging EU colonial control.
“To talk of the “need to see further progress secured whilst continuing to seek clarification, change and re-working” is to avoid grasping the nettle and facing the reality that the Windsor Framework will never address the core issues because its parameters are set by the legal framework of Art 164(5)(d) of the Withdrawal Agreement, which prohibits any change to “the essential elements“ of the Protocol. Thus Windsor sets in stone our subservience to the EU customs code and single market laws – something which no unionist should ever contemplate implementing through Stormont.
“It is here that the DUP statement falls short by failing to declare that there are no circumstances whereby Stormont can be restored so long as implementation of the Irish Sea border and foreign law is its price – it being clear from the High Court judgement in Rooney-v-Poots that an Executive must implement these Union-dismantling components.”