Statement by TUV leader Jim Allister:-
“I suspect the resignation of Lord Frost has more to do with the Protocol than Covid or government direction thereon.
“Lord Frost showed signs of genuine concern about the constitutional and economic dislocation of the Protocol – his Command Paper evidenced some of that. Yet, latterly, the edge had gone off his public utterances and his threats to deploy Article 16. Suggestions that the PM had applied the brakes may well be true and, if correct, concerning.
“However, I am also clear that the failure of the DUP to carry through on its threat gave HMG the room to wobble. Let off the hook of choosing between the Protocol-implementing institutions at Stormont and sustaining this Union-dismantling Protocol, the government went for the soft option of procrastination and delay.
“Meanwhile, the Protocol continues to bed in and build its all-Ireland economy.
“The departure of Lord Frost adds urgency to the DUP making good on its threat by ending the dither and forcing the Prime Minister to choose: Stormont or Protocol. Otherwise, the Union continues to weaken before our eyes.”