SDLP Foyle MLA Sinead McLaughlin
She called on all politicians to focus on solving the issues that affect people’s everyday lives, like the crumbling health service, huge housing waiting lists and the cost of living crisis.
Mrs McLaughlin was speaking after a University of Liverpool commissioned survey found the Protocol is not a top priority for most people in the North.
Said the Foyle MLA: “This proves the public want practical solutions and to make the Protocol work.
“If the UK government escalates their confrontation further then they are expressly acting against both the opinion and the interests of people in the North to continue their own petty squabbles with the EU.
“This is the latest survey that indicates people in the North do not believe we are mired in crisis as a result of the Northern Ireland Protocol – despite what some unionist politicians want us to think.
“People and businesses understand where we are with the Protocol and want a resolution that will benefit everybody.
“The outstanding issues with the Protocol have been recognised by the EU and they have made generous proposals to resolve them.
“The majority of people in the North support the EU’s proposals, as they do the Protocol itself.
“The public are sick of the endless threats and conjecture that surround the Protocol. Nobody wants to see scenes like those in west Belfast on Wednesday evening.
“People are suffering because of a cost of living crisis that is spiralling ever further out of control, they are struggling to access healthcare and to find a decent home.
“These are the issues we should be putting all our energies into, not fabricated fights over sovereignty and the European Court of Justice.”
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