Jim Allister says he 'welcomes token resistance to EU colonialists' at Stormont but that the DUP is still embracing the Protocol

He was speaking in the Assembly during the debate on Tuesday which ended in unionists wholly opposing a motion to embrace new law and nationalists and Alliance wholly backing it – causing the motion to fail because it lacked “cross-community support”.

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The North Antrim MLA had stern words for the DUP, repeating his accusation that the party has caved to pressure to revive Stormont without fulfilling its pledge to erase the Irish Sea border.

"I welcome this token resistance to EU colonial rule,” he told MLAs, adding that the “fundamental” issue at stake was not the EU law itself, but the fact politicians in Northern Ireland cannot amend it.

"We cannot change what is before us – that is why I describe it as EU colonial rule,” he said.

"They made the law: it's their law, not ours. So [whether it has] merit or demerit, it does not deserve democratic assent.”

He then turned to the DUP, telling the chamber that “the last time in this house that we debated the applicability of EU laws was on the 8th of December, 2020, when we had a DUP minister – quite astoundingly from my point of view – proposing the imposition, not of one, but of 45 different EU directives into our domestic law”.

Mr Allister quoted the minister in question – Gordon Lyons – who said at the time that doing so would “ensure NI's primary legislation that governs plant health and animal health and welfare continues to operate in a way that aligns with the NI Protocol”.

"So it certainly is progress of the DUP to bring a motion today disavowing alignment with the EU Protocol,” said Mr Allister.

DUP MLA Brian Kingston intervened to say “the DUP twice obtained substantial progress in restoring NI's place in the UK internal market and within the UK, and [Mr Allister] should give us credit for the progress that was made”.

“I'll tell you exactly what the DUP is doing,” replied Mr Allister. "Under the Donaldson deal they are implementing the Protocol!”