Lord Empey: Is DUP sound and fury a bid to camouflage soft Brexit?

I have noted the attacks made by Sammy Wilson MP and Ian Paisley MP on Irish Taoiseach Leo Varadkar for his attitude to recent negotiations on Brexit.
Ian Paisley MP and Sammy Wilson MP are two of the strongest supporters of BrexitIan Paisley MP and Sammy Wilson MP are two of the strongest supporters of Brexit
Ian Paisley MP and Sammy Wilson MP are two of the strongest supporters of Brexit

Indeed some of the criticism is justified.

However, both Sammy and Ian represented Brexit during the referendum campaign as a way of the United Kingdom freeing itself from Brussels bureaucracy and being able to enter a new era of bespoke trade deals around the world.

How, therefore, do they sign up to a document which makes clear that

Taoiseach Leo Varadkar speaking at the Government Press Centre in Dublin after the European Commission announced that "sufficient progress" has been made in the first phase of Brexit talks on December 8 2017. Photo: Brian Lawless/PA WireTaoiseach Leo Varadkar speaking at the Government Press Centre in Dublin after the European Commission announced that "sufficient progress" has been made in the first phase of Brexit talks on December 8 2017. Photo: Brian Lawless/PA Wire
Taoiseach Leo Varadkar speaking at the Government Press Centre in Dublin after the European Commission announced that "sufficient progress" has been made in the first phase of Brexit talks on December 8 2017. Photo: Brian Lawless/PA Wire
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1) in the event of no deal being struck with the EU, Northern Ireland will revert to ‘regulatory alignment’ with Dublin/Brussels, and indeed this may also apply to all of the United Kingdom?

2) In these circumstances, regulations will be made by Brussels over which we will have no say as our MEPs will no longer be there, but Mr Varadkar and his MEPs and Sinn Fein MEPs will!

There is a fundamental contradiction in the document and little sign that the UK is braced to go out into the world and aggressively pursue a trailblazing trade expansion policy.

So, has all the sound and fury from these DUP MPs been all about camouflaging a U turn to a ‘soft Brexit’ under cover of an attack on Mr Varadkar?

Reg Empey, House of Lords, London