Statement by North Down TUV Assembly candidate John Gordon:
“Stephen Farry’s comments to the Dublin-based Institute of International and European Affairs about his desire to avoid the Assembly poll becoming a referendum on the Sea Border is a tacit admission that Alliance are desperate to avoid public scrutiny of their approach to Brexit over the past couple of years.
“The public are not stupid. They haven’t forgotten that this is the party which linked arms with the pan-Nationalist front in order to call for the “rigorous implementation” of the Protocol. For Dr Farry to now claim that Alliance wants to see us move “from a solid line down the Irish Sea to a dotted line” is indeed a significant shift but he can not wash his hands of his role in imposing a situation that has resulted in rising costs and reduced choice for the people of Northern Ireland. This, added to the Protocol’s total disregard for the Belfast Agreement’s commitment to no constitutional change without consent being binned, is something the voters of North Down are keen to pass their verdict on.
“Dr Farry knows that their policy on the Protocol is deeply unpopular and he fears the rise of principled opposition to the Protocol in North Down and indeed across Northern Ireland. People can best give their answer to him and his party by voting TUV in May’s election – the only party which has consistently opposed the Protocol about which he is now so embarrassed.”