Doug Beattie – 2023 Comments on Northern Ireland’s Place with the United Kingdom’s Internal Market

The comments made by Doug Beattie, the Leader of the Ulster Unionist Party, on 16 January 2023.

This is a much more low-key statement from the UK and EU than the build up implied, which provides a lesson in raising expectations in such a delicate negotiation. I would implore both the UK Government and the European Union not to become tempted to agree a deal simply to conclude negotiations, and rather focus on taking time to find a deal that provides long lasting solutions to the range of problems caused by the Northern Ireland Protocol.

Northern Ireland’s place with the United Kingdom’s Internal Market must be restored and protected. Sticking plaster solutions will not cut it. The long-term effect of the implementation of the Protocol in its current form will be the erosion of Northern Ireland’s place within the United Kingdom. We have warned of this since 2019 and will continue to oppose any deal which makes Northern Ireland a place apart from the rest of the UK.

Nobody can be expected to agree a deal over which they have no input or control. London is adding to the democratic deficit, not solving it. We must have a say in our own future. There would never have been a Belfast Agreement if the Government had behaved like this. It’s intolerable.