'We are not robots - we can have our own opinions!' DUP figures play down notion of split over Windsor Framework to solve Protocol

​Ian Paisley MP, who has already indicated the deal will not “cut the mustard” for the DUP, told the News Letter categorically: “There is no split at all.”

However, he, Sammy Wilson MP, Jim Shannon MP, Paul Girvan MP, and latterly DUP peer Nigel Dodds have all expressed reservations about the new re-written version of the Protocol.

These critics are all best in Parliament in Westminster.

Meanwhile, the Northern Ireland Assembly-based wing of the DUP has been much more muted on the subject, insisting that more time is needed to digest the stacks of documents underpinning the Windsor Framework.

It was put to Mr Paisley that with MLAs taking a wait-and-see approach, and many of the Westminster team already indicating distaste or concern about the deal, it indicates a party split.

"I think you may be seeing reds under the bed!” he replied, a phrase recalling the delusional paranoia of some in Cold War America who saw Soviet infiltrators everywhere.

"There is no split at all. We are each entitled to opinions – not robots! This is a big issue of public debate.”

He said not only is talk of a split an “exaggeration”, it missed the main point: “Whether you say you are for or against the Windsor Framework, the government will be implementing it. The issue is how we respond and what we do next.”

He gave no indication of what the party may have in mind on that front.

The News Letter rang dozens of DUP politicians on Thursday. Almost none answered.

One who did was Strangford MLA Harry Harvey.

He has “definitely not” got the feeling of a split he said, adding that while there is a sense that “there’s been progress made” on the Protocol, “there's still a lot to go through”.

Meanwhile another DUP source told the News Letter that, yes, the party’s Westminster members “seem to be the most boisterous around this”, whilst MLAs have been quiet.

They added: "Does that constitute a split? No, I don't think it does. It just seems to be that some maybe think they’ve licence to speak, and others don’t.”

The MLA wing of the party has yet to meet with the Westminster wing “to discuss this, debate this, and thrash it out”, the source said.

TUV leader Jim Allister told the News Letter: “On the surface there certainly would seem to be some divergence of opinion [in the DUP].

"I don’t quite understand it, because anyone who signed the unionist leaders’ Ulster Day Declaration 2021 could not be satisfied with the Windsor whitewash.

"It’s abundantly clear from the legal framework within which it even has to be approved that it cannot change the essential elements of the Protocol.

"The essential elements are: keeping us in a foreign single market and under a foreign customs code which treats GB as a foreign country and Northern Ireland as EU territory.

"If anything, I don’t understand the delay in recognising that, but it’s for the DUP to take their own time.”

Ian Paisley had already told GB News this week that his “gut reaction” is the deal does not “cut the mustard”.

Sammy Wilson had said that “we will look at the legal text… [but] it is quite clear NI will be still subject to EU law", and the proposed safeguard of the Stormont Brake “will not work”.

Paul Girvan MP said: “Any involvement in the ECJ is also a major concern for me, because it means that I am still operating under laws that I have had no control about bringing forward.”

Jim Shannon MP said it is “crucial” that the Windsor framework does not become a “Windsor knot”, saying “any deal must include the cessation of European Court of Justice interference in UK sovereignty” (which the EU has insisted must continue).

And Lord Dodds said: “We will look at these issues in detail, but what we have seen thus far makes us question some of the propaganda...

"Be honest about it, tell us exactly what is going to happen regarding the equal citizenship of the people of Northern Ireland; do not claim that we are equal citizens and then put in place barriers between our citizenship.”

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