Statement by TUV deputy leader Court councillor Ron McDowell:
“Back in October the Prime Minister indicated that he was supportive of what Sir Jeffrey Donaldson described as “my proposal” of an East-West Council to bring together the constituent parts of the UK to discuss trading relationship. On Wednesday of this week the UUP issued a statement calling for the formation of an “Intertrade UK” body with a similar remit.
“As has been noted by some commentators, this is similar to a call by TUV for the establishment of an InterTradeUK body to protect East/West trade in December 2020 (see here). In January 2021 TUV published a detailed policy document outlining how such a body would function (see here) and we have included reference to the body in every manifesto since.
“The DUP response to this suggestion was previously lukewarm (see here) but now it appears that they have adopted the policy. The UUP are on similar ground, even using the name TUV suggested for the body over three years ago.
“That said, it is important to stress that the establishment of an Intertrade UK body or east-west form is no substitute to replacing the Protocol. In making these suggestions in the past TUV has always been clear that regardless of the establishment of such a body, the barriers created by the Protocol must be removed. Having found common ground with TUV on establishing the body we suggested it would be good to have similar clarity from the DUP and UUP that they are equally clear that an Intertrade UK body / East – West Forum would not address the fundamental constitutional issues created by the Protocol.”