We cannot be the ones to do Government's dirty work and destroy Union says TUV leader Jim Allister

Elaborating, he said: “If the Government is saying that the Protocol and the Windsor whitewash are here to stay then the corollary of that is that Stormont is dead because the price of Stormont is to implement the Protocol, and that is a price that no unionist should be paying.”

He added: “If unionism stands firm then at some point the Government has to give us government. If we’re part of the United Kingdom, then we have to be governed.

“You can get it from one of two places – Stormont or Westminster. The difference between the two is with Westminster we wouldn’t be putting our hand to our own destruction, we would be standing off and saying, ‘you may wish to destroy the Union but we’re not going to do it for you’.”

On direct rule, Mr Allister said: “I think the government doesn’t wish for that to happen, they’re trying every trick to make Stormont do their dirty work in terms of implementing colonial foreign laws in Northern Ireland, accepting the break-up of the Union through implementing the Irish Sea Border, accepting that we’re under foreign jurisdiction.”

Under Westminster rule Sinn Fein, the largest party in Northern Ireland, could become unrepresented due to their boycott policy.

Mr Allister said: “That’s a self-inflicted situation, under direct rule Westminster becomes the only place to have a say. If Sinn Fein wish to exempt themselves then they’re cutting off their own nose to spite their face."

He concluded by urging the DUP to stand firm: “It really does come down to whether or not the DUP stands firm. If they grasp at some fig leaf to cover up going back in well then the government will have achieved their end and the Union will then be dismantled by ourselves.

“I don’t think unionism has ever been tested like this before. If unionism gives in on this the Union is over effectively.”