Ulster Unionist Party Leader Steve Aiken and Assembly Chief Whip Robbie Butler have met with the US Special Envoy Mick Mulvaney at Stormont.    

Steve Aiken MLA said:

“The meeting provided the opportunity to meet with the US Special Envoy and to raise a number of issues with him, not least our concern and frustration at how a number of politicians are incorrectly misrepresenting the Belfast Agreement in the current Brexit withdrawal negotiations and completely ignoring the Unionist position.   

“We stressed that the Belfast Agreement must be supported in all its forms and that any barriers to trade within the United Kingdom are unacceptable to all of us who put interests of Northern Ireland and it’s people first.

“We discussed the issue of State Aid which is causing so much angst to Dublin as Brexit approaches, and highlighted the importance of the UK Government being able to support Bombardier and the local aerospace industry and how this must not be thwarted by Northern Ireland being subject to rulings from the European Court of Justice.   

“We also briefed the Special Envoy on the need for Legacy arrangements to be fair to all, including former police officers and soldiers, and that we will not accept the rewriting of history.

“We highlighted the inbuilt unfairness of a process whereby the focus was on the forces of the State, who were responsible for 10 per cent of deaths, and not on the terrorist groups responsible for 90 per cent. We also pointed out the inequity of a system whereby State records can be trawled in pursuit of police officers and soldiers, yet obviously no equivalent reliable records are held by the terror gangs. Consequently, the spotlight inevitably falls once again on former police officers and soldiers, with no pretence of equality before the law or a level playing field.          

“It was a very positive meeting and we look forward to continuing our engagement with the US Government as we move forward.”