Edwin Poots has a last chance to defeat the Northern Ireland Protocol

The DUP has a new leader, Edwin Poots but still has a very big political problem as both assembly members and MPs have been complicit in the failed policies on the Union of recent years.

Not a single DUP MLA opposed the imposition of EU Regulations on Northern Ireland when these came before the Assembly.

Mr Poots as minister has allowed his agriculture department to put in place and administer the Irish Sea border which has already done more damage to the Union than any other political change since Northern Ireland came into existence in 1921.

If Stormont assembly elections take place (assuming in the meantime Mr Poots has not the guts to collapse the undemocratic shambles that is Stormont), the Northern Ireland Protocol will be voted on by that assembly and if we want to get rid of it we need as many Unionist members as possible elected to give the best chance of success.

This will mean voting for many of those whose actions or inaction have brought us to the sorry state the Union is in today. For the sake of the Union, I am prepared to bite on the bullet and vote for such unionists if it helps to defeat the protocol.

But if Mr Poots, who has it in his gift to frustrate the Irish Sea border, instead continues to administer it, then it will be a bridge too far for many unionists and this opportunity to defeat the protocol will almost certainly be lost.

Philip Black, Lurgan

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