Statement by TUV East Belfast Assembly candidate John Ross:
“Councillor John Kyle’s comments on The View last night found an attentive audience in some sections of the media and will be applauded by Nationalism but they are badly out of touch with the feelings of ordinary loyalists. More significantly; they are badly wrong.
“It is beyond belief that on the very day TUV leader Jim Allister highlighted the fact that the Protocol is leading to shortages of HRT medical supplies in Northern Ireland Councillor Kyle was on the BBC talking about “significant opportunities”.
“There are no opportunities in being cut off from our main market.
“There is no way of “exploiting” a border in the Irish Sea.
“There is no up side to Article VI of the Acts of Union being trashed.
“There are no advantages in being left in a foreign single market for goods and a foreign VAT regime.
“There are no opportunities for us to control much of our own future while we are governed by foreign laws which we cannot change overseen by a foreign court.
“With the UUP leader tweeting this morning that he doesn’t see the issue with Dr Kyle’s comments and a DUP leader welching on his promise to pull the plug on Stormont unless there was progress on removing the Protocol Unionists can see that there is one party which is serious about the Protocol.
“This is a battle for the survival of the Union. Grassroots Unionists can see that and so can TUV.”