Fresh unionist row over Brexit as Jim Allister claims UUP has 'completely lost the plot' on the issue

Jim Allister has accused Steve Aiken’s party of having “completely lost the plot” – and attempting to justify “exporting” the “unjust” trade arrangements facing Northern Ireland to the rest of the UK.

Mr Aiken said this week that the rest of the UK following EU trade rules is no different to the situation currently facing the province under the Windsor Framework. He said if the rest of the UK is “going for full alignment because it makes sense for business, let’s just do it”.

“It solves the Irish Sea border problems” the South Antrim MLA said – while slamming the current Windsor Framework arrangements as as undemocratic.

Reacting to Mr Allister’s criticism, the UUP said it has been consistent in its opposition to the protocol deal – which it said was “created by the Brexit ultras in the Conservative Party”.

“Brexit delivered nothing for Northern Ireland. Reducing its impacts carries the added benefit of reinforcing the Union, undermining nationalism in Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales, and restoring our influence across Europe”, a party spokesperson said.

The row follows the government announcing plans for Great Britain to follow EU single market rules without requiring a parliamentary vote each time. That has prompted criticism from pro-Brexit politicians, including the TUV leader, who say it is a betrayal of the 2016 referendum result.

Northern Ireland is already effectively within the EU’s single market for goods, meaning that the move would reduce the need for such stringent checks on the internal UK border with Great Britain. There is no suggestion that the deal, or a proposed deal on food and drink products, would mean Brussels ceding any of its control of the NI market, even if checks in certain areas became redundant.

TUV leader Jim Allister told the News Letter that unionists who believe in democracy and constitutional government do not have the option of welcoming the PM’s proposal to “undermine” the referendum result.

“The whole point of Brexit was to ‘take back control’ and make our own laws but instead of enjoying that opportunity, Brexit was negated in Northern Ireland from the start, as we were required to give much more control away.

“We kid ourselves if we think we help our cause by supporting the extension of our disenfranchisement to GB, sabotaging Brexit in its own terms, across the whole UK. This is not being true to who we are. Rather than pulling Great Britain into the centre of gravity of our disenfranchisement we should be working with GB politicians to fully re-enfranchise Northern Ireland within a fully enfranchised UK.

“We cannot trade these points of principle as a means to some economic end, but even if we could that would not apply in this context because instead of facilitating the reintegration of Northern Ireland with the rest of the country, courtesy of a UK SPS Agreement, the terms of the negotiation make it very clear that Northern Ireland will remain separate and the new SPS Agreement which will only pertain to Great Britain”, he said.

Mr Allister added: “It is only when, as a country, we rediscovery a sense of belief in ourselves, and therein an unbending resolution to defend the democratic and representative values at the heart of the UK political tradition, that we will be able to come together and insist that the EU respects the territorial integrity of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.”

However, the UUP says it has been consistent on Brexit and subsequent deals. A spokesperson told the News Letter the Irish Sea border is “the biggest single ongoing threat to our Union” – saying it was “even supported on the day it was proposed by the DUP, who considered it a ‘good thing’”.

The party added: “We opposed Brexit in 2016 precisely because we foresaw the chaos that would follow. We campaigned strongly against Theresa May’s approach, the Northern Ireland Protocol, and the Windsor Framework. There is not a week that passes without Dr Aiken highlighting the absurdity of the Windsor Framework. He even joined with Jim Allister and the then-leader of the DUP in challenging the legality of the Protocol, taking the case all the way to the Supreme Court.

“Our approach has always been to support whatever tears down the internal UK borders. Moving towards dynamic alignment between all parts of our nation and the EU will eliminate the Irish Sea Border, and better still, it is highly likely to boost the UK economy, marginalise Irish nationalism, and remove any remaining pretexts for the nefarious ‘unity’ debate”.