Ulster Unionist Leader, Steve Aiken OBE MLA, said:
“The cooler temperatures of Hillsborough Castle may have provided the Prime Minister with welcome relief from London, but he continues to provide more heat than light into the ongoing problems created by his border down the Irish Sea. The continued platitudes and statements that businesses who currently trade within our nation, across the North Channel, could ‘tear up’ any requirement for documentation and regulation has been shown to be a sham by the Government’s own allocation of £235 million for a ‘Trade Declaration System’ that is somehow, miraculously, going to be up and running by January.
“What Northern Ireland businesses and the those who supply Northern Ireland with many of our goods want to hear, is that the UK will stand firm and make sure that the ‘lightest’ touch of regulation is applied, and for the vast amount of goods that come from the rest of our nation, that they will not be treated by the ‘specialist committee’ as being at risk.
“Furthermore, as the time for negotiation runs down on the Prime Minister’s own goal, he should explain to the Taoiseach that restrictions placed on goods in Northern Ireland by the EU will be reciprocated on Irish goods on the land bridge.
“On a separate note we warmly welcome the commitment to celebrating Northern Ireland’s place within the Union, and we look forward, as the Party that helped found Northern Ireland, to participating fully in the plans as it enters its second century.”