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A senior DUP MP has insisted his party will not accept the Brexit withdrawal deal, in comments apparently at odds with his leader\u2019s stance.<\/p>\nA senior DUP MP has insisted his party will not accept the Brexit withdrawal deal, in comments apparently at odds with his leader\u2019s stance.<\/p>\n
Sammy Wilson said the deal that contains the contentious Northern Ireland protocol must be \u201cscrapped\u201d or at least significantly changed.<\/p>\n
The DUP consistently opposed the deal at Westminster, arguing that it creates an economic border between Northern Ireland and Britain.<\/p>\n
On Friday, party leader Arlene Foster reiterated that opposition but said she has to \u201crecognize the reality\u201d that it is now law and she has to be part of the process that saw it implemented.<\/p>\n
In an interview with Sky News, she said: \u201cI mean, there are some who would continue to fight against the protocol; I have to recognize that that is the reality now.\u201d<\/p>\n
The protocol in the withdrawal treaty is the arrangement by which the North continues to follow single market rules for goods and administers the EU\u2019s customs code at its ports.<\/p>\n
The UK’s government has acknowledged that extra regulatory checks will be needed on some goods entering Northern Ireland from the rest of the UK, with the expansion of infrastructure to screen animals and food products.<\/p>\n
But the UK government has insisted there will be no new physical customs infrastructure in Northern Ireland.<\/p>\n
Mrs Foster said her focus as a unionist leader is now to mitigate against the potential damage the protocol could cause to the Union.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo instead of saying \u2018I wish that hadn\u2019t happened\u2019 \u2013 and I do \u2013 how to mitigate against that, and also take steps to make sure that we have a shared prosperity in the future for the whole of the UK,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Mr Wilson struck a different note on Sunday in a statement titled \u201cDUP will not accept Withdrawal Agreement\u201d, which was not issued through the party\u2019s press office.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe DUP on three occasions helped to stop Theresa\u2019s May\u2019s version of the Withdrawal Agreement and we spoke against, argued against and voted against Boris Johnson\u2019s anti-Unionist Brexit,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are still arguing that, in these negotiations, the Withdrawal Agreement must be scrapped or, at the very least, significantly changed.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have sought to persuade Conservative MPs that it is not only bad for Northern Ireland but ties the UK as a whole in to the influence of EU institutions. That remains our position.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is impossible to implement the Withdrawal Agreement when we don\u2019t even know the level and depth of checks which will be required because some of that is to be decided by the Joint Committee, which was set up to look at a wide range of the details required to reflect the high-level decisions in the Agreement.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe UK government still doesn\u2019t know what its relationship with the EU will be after the 31st December. It is impossible to put into place any arrangements for Northern Ireland, which is part of the UK and which will be affected by the final outcome of the negotiations.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf, as the press and others are speculating, there is no deal, will the British Government honor the Withdrawal Agreement?<\/p>\n
\u201cWill it pay \u00a334 billion to the EU and a further \u00a3180 billion which it will be required to pay in future years? I suspect not, and if that is the case, why would the NI Protocol portion of the agreement stay intact?\u201d<\/p>\n