Letters: Unionism has little to lose by standing its ground

The two governments have been doing their utmost to intimidate unionist MLAs into reforming a Northern Ireland executive.

No unionist can credibly do so however without putting themselves into a Vichy France type situation. No executive can be reformed until the NI protocol has been removed. We cannot even begin to find a solution to this however until the two governments are willing to have a more honest dialogue with unionists. There is little point in talking above the heads of unionists. The two governments already reached a deal which unionists can’t accept. There is little point in striking a deal that merely simplifies paperwork a bit if unionists can’t accept it either.

If the British government wanted to avoid removing the protocol then they should have given those unionist leaders who didn’t want to collapse the executive more support when they had the chance. Triggering article 16 at a certain point in time would have changed very little but might have been enough to prevent some unionists from withdrawing from the executive. The price will inevitably be higher for a return to government. The one positive in having been treated so badly is that unionism has little to lose by standing its ground.

Simply discussing trade modifications is not going to fix the problem. When the sovereign government cannot alter VAT rates in a part of their own country that is constitutional change and partial joint authority. Until the British and Irish governments are willing to admit that their protocol has constitutional implications and isn’t simply a matter of trade regulation you haven’t even begun to discuss the problem much less resolve it. The responsibility for no executive lies entirely with the two governments and not unionist MLAs.

In my view there must be an interim period of direct rule until a solution has been reached.

R G McDowell, Belfast