The Northern Ireland Tories are in disarray over the Irish Sea border, says ex chairman
The former chairman of the Northern Ireland Conservatives has claimed that 150 local Tories have resigned from the party.
Multi-millionaire businessman Alan Dunlop said that members were “leaving in droves” in protest at the national party’s position on the Northern Ireland Protocol.
Mr Dunlop said: “The membership roll stood at about 650 in January last year, but that is now hovering at around 500. If this slide continues, I expect we will see many more members exiting.
“There’s an inevitability about this implosion. The government has failed to safeguard Northern Ireland’s position within the Union by acquiescing on the protocol.”
He said that successive UK ministers’ failure to negotiate away the protocol in talks with EU had increased disillusionment amongst Northern Ireland Conservatives.
“Twenty-five years of republican terrorism failed to wrench Northern Ireland out of the Union, but our own Conservative government, in one senseless move, has achieved what the bomber and gunman failed to achieve.
“I would expect Northern Ireland Conservatives to be in disarray and disheartened right now and probably feeling abandoned by their own party. It is a shameful position,” Mr Dunlop added.
The News Letter put Mr Dunlop’s claims to the Northern Ireland Conservatives.
Matthew Robinson, chair of the NI Conservatives, responded: “The party does not comment on the views of former members.”