NI Protocol: critics of post-Brexit arrangements publish joint paper

Critics of post-Brexit arrangements for Northern Ireland have warned the DUP against a return to Stormont - if an acceptable deal is not on the table

And they have insisted that no deal with the Government is better than a bad deal.

It follows the publication of a joint paper from TUV leader Jim Allister, former Brexit Party MEP Ben Habib, Baroness Kate Hoey and loyalist activist Jamie Bryson.

In it they have highlighted their concerns at the shape of the mooted proposals offered by No 10 aimed at addressing DUP concerns over trade and sovereignty.

The paper insists the measures are "suboptimal" and offer no prospect that they will restore Northern Ireland's "place in the union" or dismantle the contentious Northern Ireland Protocol.

It says the suggestion of rebranding the green lane on trade movements between GB and NI to a "UK internal market lane" would not alter the existence of a sea border, with Northern Ireland continuing to be subject to EU law.

The four authors also insist the reported deal would not meet the DUP's own seven tests the party set to measure any Government proposals to restore powersharing.

They warn that any unionist who accepts such a deal would be "responsible and have full ownership for the implementation" of arrangements that undermine the union.

In a statement, the co-authors of the report said: "As those who shared so many platforms with (DUP leader) Sir Jeffrey Donaldson repudiating the Protocol in all its parts, we would be immensely disappointed if the DUP climbs down in favour of implementing the very union-dismantling Protocol we all opposed.

"To accept the anti-unionist Protocol would be to endorse the recasting of the Union whereby Art 6 (of Acts of Union) is ditched and NI is to be partly governed, condominium style, by foreign laws - identical to those prevailing in the Republic of Ireland as part of the template to create the stepping stone of an economic all-Ireland.

"The perversion and constitutional obscenity of a partitioning border in the Irish Sea would be given permanency through its acceptance by the DUP, if they return to Stormont now.

"We encourage unionism to stand firm and refuse to be either bought or bullied.

"In this rapidly evolving situation, we will continue to work together, and with others across the entire unionist and loyalist community, to seek positive solutions which deliver on the objective of removing the Irish Sea border, and to continue the campaign demonstrating our unalterable opposition to the Protocol, and any implementation of it."

They added: "If, as should be the case, there remains no Stormont institutions until the Acts of Union are restored in full and the Protocol is removed, then we will further be continuing to work to ensure the governance arrangement for NI is constitutionally compatible and does not include any involvement from the Irish Republic."