Unionists leaders should say which Tory candidates they prefer and why

On the issue of the next prime minister. Morning View (‘Tory hopefuls say they back protocol bill but need to act,’ July 11) sums up the dilemma facing unionism.

It says “it becomes very hard indeed for unionists to accept devolution while the principle of consent is undermined in the way that it is by the protocol”.

However most unionists have moved beyond ‘very hard indeed’, to it being impossible to accept devolution with the protocol in place.

Far from passively uttering ‘the choice of PM is a matter for the Tories’, we need to hear from our leaders: who is their preference and why?

There is no point in silence as if it means consenting to whoever is chosen as prime minister.

It matters a lot to the whole of the UK and Northern Ireland in particular. Within the list of runners, all that seems certain is that the NI Protocol is low on the list of Conservative Party priorities.

Not one of the contenders has actually stated his or her intention to take on the EU and remove the protocol in its entirety. We here can be sure that the next Tory prime minister will not be elected because of their five star rating as a defender of Northern Ireland’s constitutional status.

Let us hear from our leaders how they got on in extracting from the prime minister candidates an answer to the question ‘how do they intend to put right the betrayal they all signed up to, known as the NI Protocol’?

Time to call all those seeking to be prime minister to give a commitment to the British electorate, not a worthless contemplated promise but a solid written pledge to remove the protocol by the autumn.

David McNarry, Former Ulster Unionist and Ukip MLA, Comber

• Editorial: Tory leadership hopefuls say they back protocol bill but need to act on that