Joint statement by TUV leader Jim Allister and former DUP Policy Adviser Dan Boucher:-
“The fact that during the period when the Irish Sea Border came into effect unionism has been represented in the House of Commons by just one party, the DUP, means that party’s stewardship requires scrutiny in this election.
“The failure of the DUP leadership to deal with the problems presented by the Irish Sea Border has not been because the challenges were necessarily insurmountable. They have, whether by design or incompetence, squandered numerous opportunities. There have been three main areas of failure:
First, in the not arguing for Mutual Enforcement (the mechanism described by the FT as the solution no one can afford not to have) as the only credible means of protecting the integrity of the EU single market today, because it is the only way to deal with the border that does not disenfranchise the 1.9 people of Northern Ireland.
Second, in accepting the Windsor Framework nearly a year after its publication, masquerading as something different, namely the Safeguarding the Union deal, which has helped to save and ‘cement in’ rather than challenge, the Irish Sea Border.
Third, giving up the Stormont leverage, for nothing of substance, and without even insisting on the restoration of the consent and cross community consent protections that provided the foundation for devolution from 1999 until the Protocol. Here was an unanswerable demand: Stormont on all key issues requires cross community votes, but on this the most significant of all matters – the surrender of 300 areas of law to a foreign parliament – it has been removed. – No DUP MP turned up to oppose the legislation removing this protection or voted against it (Nov 26 and 30 2020) and they did not insist on its restoration as a condition of returning to Stormont. This is quite staggering.
“The DUP’s ‘Safeguarding the Union’ deal represented no progress on the Windsor Framework whatsoever, just a demeaning attempt by the UK Government and DUP to trick the people of Northern Ireland. Yet, the former and current DUP leaders did their utmost to hoodwink the public with false claims that the Irish Sea border was gone.
“The people of Northern Ireland are not fools and to not deserve to be represented in Parliament by those prepared to take them for fools. It is time for change.
“Unionism requires different, competent leadership in the House of Common in the next session.”