Allister presses NI Secretary on Northern Ireland Protocol difficulties

Chris Heaton-Harris combined a meeting with the TUV leader in Ballymena with a visit to the nearby Wrightbus factory.

Mr Allister said: “I was happy to welcome the Secretary of State, Chris Heaton-Harris, to my constituency office in Ballymena today for a discussion on the present political situation.

“After all the mixed messaging of recent days, I was interested in seeking clarity on His Majesty’s Government’s protocol intentions.”

Mr Allister said it was important to stress the seriousness of the problems created by the post-Brexit trading arrangements.

“For TUV above all else the protocol is a sovereignty issue which needs to be addressed head on, not through tinkering or the cul-de-sac of endless talks with a recalcitrant European Union,” he said.

“In the words associated with Brexit itself it must be about ‘taking back control’ and that means liberating Northern Ireland from being trapped under foreign control through laws we don’t make and can’t change.

“This is very much the message I delivered to the Secretary of State.

"With no change in the EU’s negotiating mandate further talks cannot deliver the outcome required to restore Northern Ireland’s trading position within the UK’s single market and remove the subjugation of Art 6 of the Acts of Union which the Protocol entails.

“Likewise, I was clear that I could not support any return of Stormont so long as the protocol prevails.”

Mr Alilster added: “I am pleased that the Secretary of State accepted my invitation to first visit Wrightbus, before our meeting on political issues, and see at first hand a major employer making huge strides into the future with hydrogen technology.“

Legislation to enable the UK Government to effectively tear up parts of the protocol is to return to Parliament on October 11.

The Northern Ireland Protocol Bill has already cleared the House of Commons and will be debated at second reading by the House of Lords, which is expected to consider it at length, next week.