Letter: Dame Priti ​Patel’s intervention is a timely reminder of the Windsor Framework’s constitutional incompatibilities

There can be no constitutionally compatible solution within the Windsor Framework therefore, obviously, as set out by Dame Priti, the framework has to be reopened and one of the core issues to be addressed is the continued application of EU law which, as the former Home Secretary says, is “undermining democracy”.

Dame Priti has time and again, both privately and publicly, affirmed her clear commitment to the Union.

She rebelled and voted against the framework, and her timely intervention via Unionist Voice should focus minds, including within the UK government.

It is not inconceivable that Priti Patel would be the next leader of the Conservative party, and a future prime minister of the United Kingdom.

In my view she should be, and I hope sooner rather than later the present Conservative government is removed, either by the electorate in a general election or by an internal revolution before then, and a Conservative leader is installed who will prioritise the integrity of the United Kingdom.

Now is the time for strength, not weakness; for fire, not fudge.

The core issues are identified in the DUP’s seven key tests, and it is those tests which must be met.

There can be no compromise on the constitutional integrity of the Union.

They are not merely DUP tests, but they are the unionist people’s test.

They belong to every single person - me included - who voted for the DUP based on those commitments.

​Jamie Bryson, NI Director of Policy, Centre for the Union