Letter: Hilary Benn should explain how businesses in Great Britain sell £166bn to the EU without the access of NI

When considering the appointment of Leeds Central MP Hilary Benn as Labour shadow secretary of state for Northern Ireland (Editorial: Unionists should not assume the worst following appointment of Hilary Benn, Sep 6) unionists might cast their minds back to last July and recall his misleading words about the protocol:

“Northern Ireland is in a unique and favourable position compared with my constituents, precisely because it has access to both the market of the United Kingdom and the market of the European Union”

As pointed out to him at the time it is a mystery how businesses in Great Britain, including Leeds Central, do manage to sell their goods into that EU market to which they have no access – goods worth at least £166 billion in 2022.

Dr DR Cooper, Maidenhead, Berkshire