Ian Paisley: Unionists need to drop wrist-slashing pessimism over Brexit

The DUP MP was speaking after figures from his own party and the UUP rounded on one another over what is frequently referred to as the coming “Irish Sea border”.

He was joined by party chairman Lord Morrow, who said whilst they do not back the Tory-EU deal it is unionists’ duty to try and rein in its “worst excesses”.

Sir Reg Empey even called for resignations from the DUP ranks over what he dubbed a “dereliction of their duty to ensure the Union is protected”.

The current deal is means that some goods coming into NI from GB will be checked at NI ports, and top Tory Michael Gove yesterday indicated infrastructure is under construction in Larne, Warrenpoint, Belfast and Foyle.

Mr Gove told the House of Commons dozens of EU staff will be present in NI to help police EU custom rules (though he tried to quell Unionist and Brexiteer fears by saying they will be taking their orders from UK managers).

DISENTANGLING A CHAOTIC BREXIT:

Speaking on the Nolan Show yesterday, Sir Reg pointed the fact the DUP had backed the outline agreement struck between Boris Johnson and the EU last October 2.

This deal opened the way for “the potential creation of an all-island regulatory zone on the island of Ireland”, and said the UK pledged “never to conduct checks at the [Irish] border in future”.

Control over this was to rest with the NI Assembly, with a simple-majority vote to renew it every four years.

At the time, Arlene Foster said: “We believe this is a sensible, stable way forward... it is a serious way forward.”

Whilst the DUP subsequently dropped their support and voted against the finalised deal, Lord Empey said “the damage was done, the floodgates were opened”.

What the UK ended up with was a Withdrawal Agreement with a Protocol attached, setting out how Brexit would apply to Northern Ireland.

That protocol gave a “guarantee of avoiding a hard border” on land in Ireland, ruling out “any physical infrastructure” and giving a “firm commitment to no customs and regulatory checks”.

But when it came to certain aspects of protecting the UK internal market, the language was more airy; instead of a “firm commitment” or “guarantee”, the protocol said only that was the signatories’ “aim” to avoid “controls at the ports and airports of Northern Ireland, to the extent possible in accordance with applicable legislation”.

What was revealed by Mr Gove this week in the Commons, besides dozens of EU staff operating on NI turf, were things like a series of “grace periods” for certain activities after the Brexit transition period ends on January 1, 2021.

Specifically, supermarkets would get a three months grace period, basically extending the transition period for them, so they can better prepare for any post-Brexit rules.

There is also a six-month period when the flow of chilled meats from GB to NI will remain the same, and a year-long grace period on the import of medicine to NI.

The UUP said these grace periods amount merely to “kicking the can down the road” yet further on Brexit.

It was also stated by Mr Gove that GB firms which have a presence in Northern Ireland would fall foul of EU rules on state aid (which basically rein in how much subsidy a government can give to a company).

Some believe the upshot of this is that many firms will actively avoid having a presence in NI, because it could make them ineligible for UK government support.

Asked if the Union has been eroded, Lord Empey told Stephen Nolan: “Certainly it is eroded because [of] the way Brexit has been negotiated and introduced.

“Most people who voted for Brexit never imagined they’d be in this position. It wasn’t thought through properly.

“The UUP recommended against Brexit because we were concerned about exactly this sort of thing.”

Asked who he thinks should resign, Lord Empey said: “Could be Arlene, could be any of them.”

DUP BITES BACK:

Hitting back hard on the show was DUP peer Nigel Dodds (Lord Dodds of Duncairn), who said: “The reality is that he’s wrong, and its a falsehood and a lie, to say the DUP agreed a regulatory border – we did no such thing.

“What we said is there could only be such a regulatory difference if the Assembly and the Executive agreed to it – and that’s entirely different.”

And speaking to the News Letter last night, Ian Paisley cautioned against intra-unionist feuding and “scaremongering about the union and the border”.

“There is not the slightest prospect of a united Ireland,” he said. “The economics do not stack up, let alone all the other arguments about culture and identity.

“Unionists have this in their own control. They can talk themselves into pessimism about all these things.

“Why would anybody leave the fifth largest economy in the world for a place in an all-but bankrupt state which less than a decade ago was borrowing money from us British taxpayers so it could survive?

“We need to start looking forward as we enter the next year of celebration of NI’s 100th birthday, and look forward to the next 100 years and stop what I’d call the self-loathing and the encouragement of depression among people who should be amongst the happiest in the world.”

When it comes to the fallout from Brexit, he said it had been “badly negotiated” – but “I remain convinced today that Brexit is the right way forward for our entire nation” and that Ireland and the EU “fear it” because of the boost it will bring to the UK.

When it comes to the grace periods, he added: “We should all be using that time wisely instead of slashing our wrists and telling our own community all is lost.”

And DUP chairman Lord Morrow likewise weighed in, saying: “The DUP stopped Mrs May’s deal on three occasions and then stopped the Boris Johnson deal last November at which point he called an election where he won an 80-seat majority and forced through his deal in spite of our opposition in January.

“Whilst we oppose the NI protocol, it is now in place and it is the role of every unionist to convince the Government to ameliorate the worst excesses of it.

“With regard to Lord Empey’s comments, he was appointed to the House of Lords as a Conservative peer.

“Whilst Lord Empey launches misleading and inaccurate party-political attacks out of bitterness, we will work to get a better outcome for the people in Northern Ireland whose livelihoods depend on these decisions.

“But if Lord Empey is looking to place blame, he should towards the people who appointed him to the House of Lords and remember people in glass houses shouldn’t throw stones.

“Unionists won’t forget it was Lord Empey who negotiated a deal which opened the prison gates and let murderers walk free as well as the destruction of the RUC.”

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