‘Nationalist politicians must drop anti-British xenophobia’ – UUP leader

Steve Aiken made the comments in a statement last night after the DUP pledged to vote down the government’s new trade accord with the EU, when parliament sits on Wednesday.

His party colleague Sir Reg Empey had earlier rubbished this display of DUP opposition, describing it as “play-acting” which would accomplish nothing, given that a border in the Irish Sea has already been agreed via the Northern Ireland Protocol.

Mr Aiken issued a statement of his own which called upon unionists to strive to have “the worst excesses of the Northern Ireland Protocol curtailed so that businesses can continue to trade with our biggest market which is in Great Britain”.

He said: “The Belfast Agreement has been undermined and the principle of consent overridden by the Protocol which has potentially profound implications for the democratic process here in Northern Ireland.

“Furthermore, the continuous xenophobic anti-British rhetoric around Brexit by some nationalist politicians must stop.”

Reiterating a point made by Lord Empey previously, he described the DUP has having been “complicit in facilitating Boris Johnson to negotiate the Protocol” back in October 2019 – an accusation the DUP strongly rejects.

Read the DUP’s statement of last night, rejecting the new trade accord.

Click here: IN FULL: DUP spurn Brexit deal ‘on point of principle’ and will vote it down on Wednesday

More recent stories from this reporter on Brexit:

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

Click here: Ferocious UUP–DUP clash on Brexit and Union with Empey calling for resignations

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