TUV Leader Jim Allister has slammed any potential Protocol deal.
Statement by TUV leader:-
“When all is said and done the critical test of any Sunak deal with the EU will be constitutional, not economic.
“It is the imposition and supremacy of EU law and subjection to the EU Customs Code which have Art 6 of the Acts of Union in suspension. So long as Northern Ireland is, in customs and single market terms, EU territory, where their laws apply, then, whatever the spin, our constitutional position is fundamentally altered.
“I caution fellow unionists, tempted to stretch themselves to secure a deal, not to fall for the carrot of access for NI to the EU single market, because that comes at a toxic price, namely, supplicant acceptance of EU law and its ECJ.
“If NI is to be outside the EU then we must of constitutional necessity be outside its single market and customs regime. Of course, to trade into the EU market, or any other market, (as is the case for GB) our goods must meet their standards, but none of that requires membership of their single market, nor a dual regulatory regime.
“With the U.K. outside the EU economic and legal orbit then that is where NI too must be. Our constitutional and trading position is not the stuff of venn diagrams, where we straddle both legal orders, but must be as proscribed by the Acts of Union – no ifs, no buts.”
ENDS
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