Protocol: Sir Jeffrey says ‘a blind man on a galloping horse’ could see where threat to Good Friday deal lies as Wilson castigates American ‘IRA sympathisers’ who support it

It comes as Liz Truss is expected to have face-to-face talks with Joe Biden on Wednesday, and ahead of that tete-a-tete she told reporters she sees little chance of striking a trade deal with America any time soon.

The lack of interest in such a pact is widely rumoured to be linked with the fact that Mr Biden – and Irish-American politicians generally – have spent the last couple of years warning the UK against tearing up the Protocol, on the grounds that such a move would threaten peace in Northern Ireland.

The suggestion now is that the Americans may seek to revive the prospect of a transatlantic trade treaty as a way of pressuring Mrs Truss to soften her anti-Protocol stance.

WHAT’S THE BACKGROUND?:

The whole issue actually pre-dates Brexit itself; back in 2016, ahead of the referendum, the then-US president Barack Obama warned that voting for Brexit would put UK “back of the queue” for trade talks with America.

And in the years since, fellow Democrats have spoken out about their desire to see the Protocol maintained.

When Mr Biden himself was asked about the Protocol and the peace process last September, he said: “I feel very strongly... We spent an enormous amount of time and effort in the United States.

“It was a major partisan effort, and I would not like to see – nor would many of my Republican colleagues – a change in the Irish accord.”

And just two weeks ago, a White House spokesman said this: “There’s no formal linkage on trade talks between the US and the UK and the Northern Ireland protocol, as we have said.

“But efforts to undo the Northern Ireland protocol would not create a conducive environment, and that’s basically where we are in the dialogue.”

Mrs Truss stressed today that she is concentrating on trade deals with eastern nations first-and-foremost, saying “there aren’t currently any negotiations taking place with the US and I don’t have an expectation that those are going to start in the short to medium term”.

WHERE DOES DUP STAND?:

DUP chief Sir Jeffrey told the News Letter tonight: “President Biden and the American administration claim that the Protocol is there to protect the Good Friday Agreement and that’s why they want it left untouched.

“But a blind man on a galloping horse could see the Protocol is the problem, not the solution, and that the Protocol presents a very real threat to the Good Friday Agreement.”

As to whether the lure of a deal with an enormous superpower like the USA could sway her stance, he said: “I think the Union of the United Kingdom is more important to our Prime Minister than a trade deal, and the Prime Minister recognises the Protocol is as threat to the Union.”

Sammy Wilson MP added his voice too, saying the idea that a US/UK trade pact is dead-in-the-water is ultimately a good thing, because it will serve to “blunt the whinging arguments of the anti-British, pro-Irish, IRA sympathisers in America, who have used the threat of no trade deal as a means of trying to force the Prime Minister’s hands on the NI Protocol”.

SINN FEIN MEANWHILE SAYS...:

Sinn Fein national chairman Declan Kearney said this evening: “Today’s admission from the British Prime Minister Liz Truss that a US-UK trade deal is unlikely for the foreseeable future, confirms that Brexit is disastrous for the British economy.

“Sinn Féin has repeatedly said that Brexit would be bad for the economy, and bad for Ireland; as well as Britain itself.

“It has been repeatedly rejected across the north and by the majority of MLAs in the Assembly who now support the Protocol.

“The Protocol protects people and businesses here from the damage caused by Brexit and is helping to create jobs and attract investment. It should be built upon, not undermined.

“We need a change of tack from this British government. Liz Truss should end the reckless threats to break international law and get back to the table with the EU to find solutions to the issues created by Brexit.

“The international community led by the EU and US have a critical role to play in the coming period.”

More from this reporter:

• Brexit: There’s a fundamental con trick being played over Liz Truss’ Northern Ireland Protocol Bill says Lord Empey

• Leo Varadkar ‘has entered an irony-free zone’ as he slams UK as ‘not even handed’ about post-Brexit arrangements and advises unionists on how to protect Union