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A senior DUP deputy has insisted his party will not accept the Brexit withdrawal agreement, in comments apparently at odds with its leader’s stance.
Sammy Wilson said that the agreement containing the controversial Northern Ireland protocol must be “scrapped” or at least significantly changed.
The DUP consistently opposed the Westminster deal, arguing that it creates an economic border between Northern Ireland and the rest of the UK.
On Friday, party leader and Stormont Prime Minister Arlene Foster reiterated that opposition, but said she has to “acknowledge the reality” that it is now law and has to be part of the process that saw it implemented.
In an interview with Sky News, he said: “I mean, there are some who would continue to fight protocol; I have to admit that that is the reality now.”
The withdrawal treaty protocol is the agreement whereby Northern Ireland continues to comply with the rules of the single market for goods and administers the EU customs code in its ports.
The government has recognized that additional regulatory controls will be needed on some goods entering Northern Ireland from the rest of the UK, with the expansion of the infrastructure for testing animals and food products.
But the Government has insisted that there will be no new physical customs infrastructure in Northern Ireland.
Ms. Foster said her focus as a union leader now is to mitigate the potential damage the protocol could do to the union.
“So instead of saying ‘I wish it hadn’t happened’, and I do, how to mitigate that, and also take steps to ensure that we have shared prosperity going forward for the whole of UK,” he said. said.
Wilson made a different note Sunday in a statement titled “DUP Will Not Accept Withdrawal Agreement,” which was not issued through the party’s press office.
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“The DUP helped three times to stop Theresa May’s version of the Withdrawal Agreement and we spoke out, argued against and voted against Boris Johnson’s anti-union Brexit,” he said.
“We continue to argue that, in these negotiations, the Withdrawal Agreement should be scrapped or, at least, significantly changed.
“We have tried to persuade Conservative MPs that it is not only bad for Northern Ireland, but that it links the UK as a whole to the influence of the EU institutions. That remains our position.
“It is impossible to implement the Withdrawal Agreement when we do not even know the level and depth of controls that will be required because part of that has to be decided by the Joint Committee, which was created to examine a wide range of details necessary to reflect the high-level decisions of the Agreement.
“The UK government still does not know what its relationship with the EU will be after December 31st. It is impossible to put any deal in place for Northern Ireland, which is part of the UK and will be affected by the final outcome of the negotiations.
“If, as the press and others speculate, there is no agreement, will the British government abide by the Withdrawal Agreement?
“Will it pay 34 billion pounds to the EU and 180 billion pounds more that it will have to pay in future years? I suspect not, and if that is the case, why would the part of the agreement of the NI Protocol remain intact?”
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