Ulster Unionist Leader Robin Swann MLA said:

"This week`s withdrawal agreement was the inevitable consequence of the Government and the DUP allowing the inclusion of the backstop in last December`s agreement between the EU and the UK. It was a monumental error of judgement. We cannot and will not support the withdrawal agreement because it will be a long term challenge to the integrity of the United Kingdom. In the unlikely event that the agreement makes its way through Parliament, its impact will be felt for decades to come. The impact may not necessarily happen immediately but as the months and years pass, the implementation of the disastrous backstop will see Northern Ireland potentially drift farther away from the rest of the United Kingdom unless action is taken to reverse it effects. It will act as an incentive for Scottish Nationalists who will use every excuse under the sun to destabilise another part of the United Kingdom.

"Last year we warned directly and publicly that the backstop would be a millstone around the neck of the United Kingdom, but our warnings were ignored at that time by both the Government along with their DUP partners. In the wake of the disastrous backstop being included in last December`s agreement, the DUP boasted that they had secured amendments in the text of the agreement which meant that, in the words of Arlene Foster, ‘Northern Ireland will not be separated constitutionally, politically, economically or regulatory from the rest of the United Kingdom’. Given where we are today, it is now very clear that is untrue.

"The bottom line is this happened on the DUP`s watch. They failed in their primary duty to protect the integrity of the Union and its people. They told the people of Northern Ireland that they had the ear of the Prime Minister, they said that they had influence at the heart of the UK government and Ian Paisley was so arrogant that he boasted that ‘Leo Varadkar was done over by the EU, the UK and the DUP’ after the December agreement had been signed with the disastrous backstop included in it. Well look where we are now. The DUP were asleep at the wheel. They bear enormous responsibility for what has happened. They either misused whatever influence they had or were so full of their own hubris, that they didn`t see what was coming down the tracks. Lord Empey warned them, Jim Nicholson warned them and I warned them. But they didn`t listen. I still hope that Parliament can put the horse back in the stable and bolt the door. As the weeks and months progress, the DUP need to start listening and stop ignoring the warnings from other unionists.

"The Irish Government should also be careful what it wishes for. Despite repeated warnings to tone down the language and act like good neighbours, the brash behaviour of the Irish Government led by Leo Varadkar and Simon Coveney may yet lead to a place where none of us want to go. A no deal Brexit isn`t in anyone`s interests, but if they continue to pursue an aggressive stance in future negotiations, they will continue to raise the hackles of even the most mild mannered of unionists across the United Kingdom. For us, the Union between Great Britain and Northern Ireland comes first."