SDLP Foyle MP Colum Eastwood
Mr Eastwood was responding to reports in The Financial Times which confirm that the DUP privately lobbied the British Government for Swiss style trade alignment despite publicly panning the idea.
Said the Foyle MP: “The DUP’s erratic approach to the Northern Ireland protocol risks infecting and affecting economic and political stability in the North.
“This evening we discover that the party was privately lobbying British Government Ministers for Swiss style alignment on veterinary rules despite the fact that the DUP Economy Minister publicly panned the idea when it was raised by my party colleague Matthew O’Toole MLA.
“The DUP can’t keep talking out of both sides of their mouth.
“Telling loyalism that you want the protocol scrapped, with no alternative other than a hard border in Ireland, while quietly asking the British Government for dynamic alignment on SPS rules is fundamentally dishonest.
“The protocol poses challenges to trade; there is no doubt about that.
“As public representatives, however, we have a duty to be honest with people.
“These arrangements are here to stay. So you can play the politics of protest or you can join us and try to resolve the real problems that businesses are highlighting.
“The SDLP is in the business of finding solutions.”
