I do not believe that Liz Truss as prime minister will be good for Northern Ireland

Am I the only unionist disturbed by the seeming consensus within unionism that Liz Truss will be good for Northern Ireland?

Back in 2018 when the DUP were supporting Boris in his plan for Brexit there were warnings of potential disaster for NI but they were ignored.

Today we are in a similar situation.

Liz Truss and Rishi Sunak are in a fierce battle to win the support of the Tory party membership, driving each other to more extreme policy announcements to win the support of elderly Tory party membership (average age 57 years and 71% male).

In a recent Belfast Telegraph article Sunak boasted that his experience of creating tough sanctions against Russia would be useful as he negotiated with the EU over the NI Protocol (was Russia invading Ukraine really comparable to the EU signing a trade deal with the UK?)

Future Tory Party policy is being decided in this election race, by a tiny number of Tory members, many of whom may not even be UK citizens.

Liz Truss, the favourite, came only third in the vote of elected Tory MPs.

Nadine Dorries infamously let the cat out of the bag when she reminded candidates that they worked for the Conservative Party donors as much as for the electorate.

Both candidates are promising a bonfire of European Union regulations — sounds good for growth if you don’t stop to think — we could all travel faster if there were no regulations on our roads and motorways, but with unpleasant consequences for some; regulations are created to protect people (Food Standards, Fair Employment, Health and Safety, etc).

Some of the promised actions could have serious consequences for Northern Ireland. A trade war with the EU will have an effect on the people of Yorkshire or Strathclyde, but the effect on NI will be greater.

We have the Irish Sea between us and the rest of the United Kingdom, we are the only part of the UK to have a land border with the EU; these geographical facts have consequences and will make a trade war with the EU catastrophic for us.

Those who believe the next Tory prime minister will dramatically increase the Northern Ireland block grant to protect our workforce, are being naïve.

Right now, we are the second most successful part of the UK after London; how soon will we drop back to being the least successful again if Truss becomes prime minister?

Arnold Carton,

Belfast BT6