Statement by TUV leader Jim Allister:
“I repeatedly warned Edwin Poots of the problems which were coming with the Irish Sea border. Twice he gave me robust assurances that he would play no part in creating the border and went on record saying, “I have no intention of facilitating infrastructure at Northern Ireland ports.” Yet, for the sake of office, that is what he did. On 7th December I challenged him in the Assembly on the fact that he was building the gallows for the Union. This is the reality of the the Poots’ Posts.
“Belatedly he talks up the difficulties being experienced at the border posts which his Department has been busy building. Don’t forget either that his Department went to considerable lengths to conceal the extent of the infrastructure which the Minister was putting in place, with no opportunity for the public to even respond in a normal planning consultation process.
“Yes, the primary responsibility for the Irish Sea border lies with those who campaigned for it but the Minister who built the border posts and the MLAs of his party who voted for implementing EU legislation under the protocol in the Assembly cannot wash their hands of this mess.
“The DUP need to face up to the fact that they are complicit.
“Unionists are starting to ask about what the DUP has been doing, hence this morning’s interview. Does anyone believe that a Sinn Fein Minister would build border posts between Northern Ireland and the Republic? Does anyone believe that Sinn Fein MLAs would nod through legislation in the Assembly which put such a border in place? Yet that is what Minister Poots and DUP MLAs have done when it comes to the Irish Sea border. Meanwhile north/southery continues to be operated by the Executive while our vital east/west links are trashed!”