DUP leader says Labour must oppose protocol to prove it is ‘party of the union’

Sir Jeffrey said: “I have asked Sir Keir Starmer for a meeting because I want Labour to join all the unionist parties in Northern Ireland and press for the Irish Sea border to be scrapped.

“I welcome the positive commitment, in his keynote conference speech, to the union but Sir Keir must now back that up by standing against the Irish Sea border.

“The Northern Ireland Protocol is costing this part of the United Kingdom £850m per year and driving up costs but reducing our choices on the shelves.

“Not a single elected unionist in Northern Ireland supports the Protocol yet Brussels and Dublin still argue it is needed to protect the Belfast Agreement.

“It is damaging people and it is damaging the union. The Irish Sea border must go.”

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