Northern Ireland Protocol: Ex-DUP leader Arlene Foster quotes Pete Tong and Einstein as she chides Prime Ministers for letting down 'loyal British citizens'

The former DUP leader and Northern Irish First Minister made the comments on the website of GB News, the new UK news-and-views channel which she joined in summer 2021 as a presenter / commentator.

Her remarks come amid growing rumours that a breakthrough is nearing – or has possibly even already happened – in the negotiations between the UK government and the EU about ways to solve unionist and business concerns about the Protocol.

She wrote: “Pete Tong, a DJ from my youth, used to always say ‘we continue’… and so it is with the negotiations on the NI Protocol.”

Following Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s visit to Northern Ireland on Friday, she said that “some of the parties learnt about the visit from the local media, and when they were finally told by the government, they were given 15-minute time slots” to meet him.

The consensus from the local parties surrounding Mr Sunak’s visit was that little if any detail of any pending deal was fleshed out by him.

“The Prime Minister is trying to give the impression of engaging with local parties without actually telling them anything of substance,” said Mrs Foster.

She went on to warn: ““Time after time promises have been made by Prime Ministers, including the current Prime Minister, about Northern Ireland’s place within the Union, and time after time loyal British citizens have been let down.

“For the DUP who propped up May’s government with a confidence-and-supply agreement [struck under Mrs Foster’s watch in summer 2017], and were not included in the negotiations even then, they will be thinking of Einstein’s quote on the definition of insanity – doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result.

“There is no ambiguity about the DUP’s position – they set it out 18 months ago in their seven tests, which include reversing the damage to the Act of Union caused by the Protocol in relation to trade,and ensuring that the border in the Irish Sea is dismantled.

“There has been some government briefing that the new deal which Sunak is engaged in will meet the DUP seven tests. If that is so, then that is good news for Northern Ireland, and devolution will be back.

“But if it is just spin from the Government and the tests are not actually fulfilled then they will find that the lack of a devolved administration in Northern Ireland will in Pete Tong’s words, ‘continue’.”

Pete Tong is an English DJ who came to prominence in the 1980s as an advocate of dance music – particularly house – and gained a huge following on Radio 1; he still hosts shows for the station today.

••• More from this reporter •••

• The Supreme Court’s landmark Protocol ruling, simplified: The what, why, and who of unionism's failed legal battle

• Unionists claim vindication despite defeat in Northern Ireland Protocol case: Here are the five applicants in their own words

• Loyalist Communities Council chairman: If DUP goes soft on Northern Ireland Protocol it will stir unrest in UVF/UVF ranks