TUV: Protocol dismantling the Union before our eyes
TUV leader Jim Allister says there is no surprise that nationalists and republicans are “fanatical” supporters of the protocol – because it is “delivering on their overriding goal of diminishing and dismantling the Union”.
Speaking to a public meeting in Moygashel last night, he said people in these groupings “suck up” the Union’s economic destruction “as itself an aid to their goal”.
The North Antrim MLA (pictured) said that no unionist should be complacent about the fact that “every day the protocol stays is another day of construction of the all-Ireland economy” which he described as “a stepping stone to political absorption”.
He added: “The economic union of the United Kingdom flows from the guarantee of unfettered internal trade found in Article 6 of the Acts of Union. But the High Court has ruled that is overridden and repealed by the protocol. Hence, the Union is being dismantled before our eyes.
“It is now a test of unionist resolve as to whether we determine to retrieve what is being lost. In that quest there can be no sacred cows. It is the challenge for this generation of unionism. Lose this battle and the union is gone.”
His view remains that unionists need to force the prime minister to choose between the protocol or the Stormont institutions required to implement it. He added that “making the right noises but failing to carry through” takes the pressure off the government and conveys to protocol supporters that “in time unionists will come to terms with it and settle for mere tinkering”.