Statement by TUV leader Jim Allister:
“The Agriculture Minister’s decision to buckle on the Irish Sea border is deeply disappointing. Edwin Poots could, indeed should, have issued a ministerial direction preventing the work from recommencing. He did not. Isn’t an Irish Sea border as bad for Northern Ireland as Unionism has with one united voice warned for months?
“A border which impedes trade with our biggest market is bad for business and bad for consumers. A border that flies in the face of Article 6 of the Act of Union, which ensures trade parity in every direction within the U.K., is something no Unionist should have a part in.
“Why isn’t Edwin Poots doing the right thing for business and the Union? This was never about the finance to put the infrastructure in place. Surely not everything boils down to money as far as the DUP are concerned? Opposition to a border which divides our nation should always be a matter of principle for any Unionist.”