DUP’s Christopher Stalford: PM Boris Johnson will ‘fold like a cheap suit’ in Brexit negotiations

During a meeting of Stormont’s economy committee discussing preparedness for Brexit, Mr Stalford said he believes there will be a negotiated outcome.

“It’ll probably be on the EU’s terms if the Prime Minister’s conduct up to this point is anything to go on, he can huff and puff but generally folds like a cheap suit,” he said.

Earlier, the Chief Economist at Stormont’s Department for the Economy has warned of a “very, very difficult January” ahead, expressing concern at the level of preparedness among Northern Ireland businesses ahead of the Brexit transition period.

Shane Murphy told the Economy Committee: “We were probably already concerned about preparedness, and then Covid came along and made things immensely more difficult.

“For an awful lot of firms out there Covid is today’s problem and they can’t get their heads above water.

“Businesses constantly express a lot of frustration about clarity, and that’s really in very short supply at the minute, frustration that things of this magnitude need clarity along with time to prepare and time to adjust.

“A lot of key things are still being negotiated in one form or another between the UK Government and the EU and obviously time is short, we’re now measuring things in days.

“At that high level the picture is very concerning, major changes are on the way in January.

“Speaking very candidly, as things stand, we’re anticipating a very, very difficult January.”