DUP leader Sir Jeffrey Donaldson sets November deadline in threat to pull down Stormont in bid to force fresh election over NI protocol

DUP leader Sir Jeffrey Donaldson has said he expects to see action from the UK government next month to tackle the Northern Ireland protocol following his warning that the “political institutions” at Stormont are at risk,
By Niall Deeney
Published 10th Sep 2021, 10:44 BST
Press Eye - Belfast, Northern Ireland - 09th September 2021 - Photo by Stephen Hamilton/Presseye DUP press confernce today La Mon Hotel Belfast. Pictured is DUP Leader Sir Jeffrey Donaldson MP at La Mon Hotel, Belfast. Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) leader Sir Jeffrey Donaldson raises the stakes in his party's battle against the Northern Ireland Protocol. In a keynote speech on Thursday, he is expected to issue a warning about the future of Stormont's institutions. Photo by Stephen Hamilton / PresseyePress Eye - Belfast, Northern Ireland - 09th September 2021 - Photo by Stephen Hamilton/Presseye DUP press confernce today La Mon Hotel Belfast. Pictured is DUP Leader Sir Jeffrey Donaldson MP at La Mon Hotel, Belfast. Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) leader Sir Jeffrey Donaldson raises the stakes in his party's battle against the Northern Ireland Protocol. In a keynote speech on Thursday, he is expected to issue a warning about the future of Stormont's institutions. Photo by Stephen Hamilton / Presseye
Press Eye - Belfast, Northern Ireland - 09th September 2021 - Photo by Stephen Hamilton/Presseye DUP press confernce today La Mon Hotel Belfast. Pictured is DUP Leader Sir Jeffrey Donaldson MP at La Mon Hotel, Belfast. Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) leader Sir Jeffrey Donaldson raises the stakes in his party's battle against the Northern Ireland Protocol. In a keynote speech on Thursday, he is expected to issue a warning about the future of Stormont's institutions. Photo by Stephen Hamilton / Presseye

Yesterday, Sir Jeffrey threatened to pull DUP ministers out of the Northern Ireland Executive — a move that would crash the devolved powersharing administration — unless action is taken on the protocol.

Today, in a radio interview, he suggested that could happen if action isn’t taken in October.

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Speaking to BBC Radio Ulster, he said: “Some of this requires legislation, and in fact in the New Decade New Approach Agreement (NDNA) which was the basis on which all the political parties went back into government, a key element of the NDNA Agreement is the UK government gave a firm commitment that they would protect Northern Ireland’s place within the UK internal market and if necessary they would introduce legislation to protect our position.

“That would mean dealing with the barriers to trade created by the Northern Ireland protocol.

“Now, here we are 18 months after NDNA and the Government has not taken those steps.”

He continued: “Yes, they published a command paper in July and we welcomed that. I think that command paper signposted the kind of action that the government needs to take. All we’re asking them to do is to do what they’ve already committed to do. I’m not making any additional demands here, not a single additional demand have I made.

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“Now, Sinn Fein said a few weeks ago that unless the commitment that had been given in NDNA on langauge and culture was met that they would not nominate a deputy first minister and we would not have a minister. And what did the UK government do? They said they would legislate on that culture package at Westminster.”

He added: “I think I’ve given you a very clear indication that if the government is going to introduce legislation in October on NDNA, that’s when I would expect the government to act on their commitment in NDNA to protect Northern Ireland’s place in the UK internal market.

“I think that’s the sort of timescale we’re working to now.”

Related topics:Jeffrey DonaldsonNorthern IrelandDUPSinn FeinNorthern Ireland Executive