Letters: Unionists must unite around removal of NI Protocol

Unionism needs to show a more united front in not just politics but in everything we do if the Union is to survive.

For far too long unionism has sat back and taken the many wonderful advantages of being within the United Kingdom for granted.

Over the last one hundred years of Northern Ireland we have with confidence said to ourselves the Union is safe despite the recent changes in demographics.

It is quite clear that nationalism has been using the Belfast Agreement as a process they incorrectly believe will end in a united Ireland.

Nationalism is using the Protocol to expedite their mistaken beliefs with the backing of the Irish government, the US and EU. While unionism has been content to see the agreement as a settlement, many unionists for the first time because of the Protocol are becoming more aware what is actually happening in the process as we are gradually pushed, bit by bit, out of the Union by stealth.

Because of elected nationalist representative’s negativity to the Union, when voting they will often vote to make people’s lives worse, if it furthers their ultimate goal of a united Ireland over anything that would happen to be good for the country and promote the Union. We need to exploit this and the many weaknesses of nationalist/republicans.

As unionists we need to put our case for the Union across to those who will listen and challenge them that will not.

We need to put forward the advantages of the Union in a logical, detailed and factual way and at the same time call out the disaster a claimed nationalist utopia of a united Ireland would bring.

Far from the nationalist and republican calls of Ireland together or a new Ireland, it would be a return to the old Ireland of the past, with societal turmoil, an explosion in sectarian attacks, the exodus of tens of thousands of people and sadly the real possibility of civil war. Not to mention the economic turmoil and the fact that living standards would fall off a cliff.

For far too long unionism has been divided, we need to get our act together now while we still have the chance and work to promote the multitude of advantages of staying within the United Kingdom continues to bring.

The case for the Union must start with those who support the Union, because if we don’t, who will? Certainly not the Irish, US governments or the EU.

The removal of the Protocol is a good place for unionism to start - this is an excellent vehicle for all unionists to unite around whether they voted for Brexit or not.

We all understand the damage it is doing to our economy, the cost of living, democracy, and the very survival of the UK itself. How can any country truly prosper with a trade and economic border between the nations that make up its own country?

This border not just hinders trade but denies the citizens here the same rights as other citizens living in England, Scotland or Wales. This deficit in basic human rights established under the Act of Union cannot be allowed to continue or our Union will be lost.

The battle for the Union must start with those who support the Union, and then by widening the appeal to the ever-increasing middle ground we will not just secure the future of the country for generations to come, but forge even stronger links between Northern Ireland and the rest of the UK.

Stevan Patterson, Castlederg