Ulster Unionist Peer Lord Empey has highlighted the importance of this week to resolving the Brexit process.
Lord Empey said:
“Brexit Secretary Stephen Barclay MP is going to Brussels for important negotiations and the Prime Minister is also meeting with the EU Commission President Jean Claude Junker.
“Then there is the challenge in the Supreme Court over the Prorogation of Parliament and the Liberal Democrats have now adopted a revoke article 50 policy, thus cancelling the result of the referendum that they, as part of the Cameron Government in 2015, agreed to hold in the first place!
“In such tumultuous circumstances, Northern Ireland, its businesses and farmers, are left to ponder our future with this uncertainty hanging over our heads.
“With the DUP's influence at Westminster evaporating as defections from the Conservatives grow, it is more important than ever for vigilance from unionists of all shades of opinion, to ensure that we are not trapped in a deal that creates an artificial border within the United Kingdom.
“I reject the 'relaxed' attitude that some DUP members say they are feeling. Even they have to now admit that they launched into a Brexit campaign that had not been thought through. Today we see the consequences of that in the total chaos that surrounds us, more than three years after the referendum was passed. There is nothing wrong with wanting to leave the EU, but a clear exit strategy should have been prepared and clearly, it was not.
“The terrible scenes in Parliament last week should be a warning to us all of what can happen in a divided society.”