Statement by TUV leader Jim Allister:-
“The UUP endorsement of the Windsor Framework is disappointing, if not entirely surprising – given that party’s demonstrable failure to grasp the constitutional significance of the EU sovereignty grab at the heart of the Protocol.
“The fact that under the Withdrawal Agreement the Windsor Framework could not alter the “essential elements” of the Protocol means it is mere tinkering which Doug Beattie is welcoming.
“But where the UUP is fundamentally wrong is to believe that restoration of Stormont affords the opportunity to secure further changes. On the contrary, as is emphatically clear from the High Court judgement in Rooney-v-Poots, any Executive must by law implement the Protocol and its Irish Sea border. So, to restore Stormont is to enforce the Union-dismantling Protocol. That is a price no unionist – UUP or DUP – should pay, now or in the future.”