How much sovereignty will unionism concede for a protocol deal?: Jim Allister

Unionism will be tested to see how much “sovereignty they will concede to the EU” in return for a deal on the NI Protocol, Jim Allister has said.
By Mark Rainey
Published 20th Jan 2023, 20:14 BST
Updated 20th Jan 2023, 20:29 BST
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​Speaking at the Mid Ulster TUV annual dinner in Cookstown on Friday night, the party leader said it was a “pretence that the current UK/EU talks can resolve the protocol issues”.

Mr Allister said: “They can’t, because the key issue is not even on the table, namely, the EU’s sovereignty grab over Northern Ireland.

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"These talks are only about how the Protocol is implemented, not about reversing our subjection to foreign laws or Great Britain being regarded as a foreign country when it comes to trade with Northern Ireland.”

Taoiseach Leo Varadkar talking to the media outside the Stormont hotel, after holding talks with representatives from Stormont's five political parties to discuss the deadlock over the post-Brexit protocol.Taoiseach Leo Varadkar talking to the media outside the Stormont hotel, after holding talks with representatives from Stormont's five political parties to discuss the deadlock over the post-Brexit protocol.
Taoiseach Leo Varadkar talking to the media outside the Stormont hotel, after holding talks with representatives from Stormont's five political parties to discuss the deadlock over the post-Brexit protocol.

Mr Allister said he feared some unionists have still not grasped the seriousness of the situation.

Art 5(3), he said, “means de facto we are part of the EU’s customs territory and, hence, why Great Britain is treated in trading terms as a third or foreign country and why its goods must be checked”.

Art 5(4), provides for “the imposition on Northern Ireland of new EU law, subjecting us colony-like to laws we don’t make and can’t change.

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"The constitutional ramifications of this are massive.” he said.

TUV leader Jim AllisterTUV leader Jim Allister
TUV leader Jim Allister

“So, in all the hype about good mood music in the current talks, remember, the issues that matter are not even being addressed.

"So, any resulting package, no matter how well it is spun, will not restore our position within the United Kingdom, Mr Allister said.

“Yet, unionists are being pressurised to roll over nonetheless. It must not happen, because any acceptance of anything less than the full reversal of the sovereignty grab of the protocol, means we will never again be a full part of the UK”

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The TUV leader also said that the recent court ruling from Justice Colton “could not be clearer,” and added: “Executive ministers must implement the protocol.

"No unionist worthy of the name can do such. Nor, should anyone be cajoled or coerced out of this principle.”

Mr Allister went on to say: “Unionism will shortly be tested. TUV is clear, there can be no equivocation in rejecting protocol rule.

"Like Sinn Fein rule, it is by its very nature destructive of the Union.”

Related topics:NI ProtocolNorthern IrelandMid UlsterColtonUnionism