Unionism embarks on 2025 weaker than this time last year, because of the folly of the disastrous Donaldson/DUP Deal which saw unionists give up their prime leverage against the Union-dismantling Protocol by returning to Stormont to implement the very foreign EU laws that are prising us out of the United Kingdom and building the stepping stone of the All-Ireland economy.
The moment the DUP decided enthroning Sinn Fein as First Minister, so that they could become deputy and reclaim ministerial office, was more important than refusing to operate Stormont as a colonial Vichy regime in 300 areas of law, was the moment our enemies rejoiced and the fight went out of many MLAs against the iniquitous Protocol.
Yet, the Protocol/Windsor Framework is as pernicious and threatening as ever. Now, increasingly, GB firms are stopping supplies to Northern Ireland and soon all parcels will be subject to the full red lane rigour of the ensconced Irish Sea border. Far from our place having been restored within the UK, as falsely claimed by the Donaldson acolytes, Art 6 of the Acts of Union remains in suspension and the Union is being weakened day by day as the all-Ireland dynamic strengthens.
Enforced damage is bad enough, but when it is aided by self-inflicted folly, then, it is even worse. Now, on the back of the gerrymandered vote in Stormont on 10th December, Protocol implementers will claim ‘democratic’ endorsement, which is given credence so long as unionists operate the Stormont Executive, and thus the Protocol, on this colonial basis.
Faced with such daunting circumstances, TUV will continue in 2025 to raise the standard against both the aggressive advance of the Protocol and weak-kneed complicity. The harsh reality is that those who can implement foreign laws made in Brussels could just as readily implement such laws if made in Dublin!
My hope is that in 2025 we will see a return of strength in opposing the Protocol and, if it takes it, a realignment so that all who truly see the dangers can work assiduously together to undo the damage.