Responding to news that the EU has invoked Article 16 of the Northern Ireland Protocol, Ulster Unionist leader Steve Aiken OBE MLA, said:
“The Secretary of State Brandon Lewis should be embarrassed and ashamed by the behaviour of the Government and the Northern Ireland Office following the unilateral decision of the EU to activate Article 16 to put controls on exports of vaccines from its territory.
“Under the Northern Ireland Protocol, our Armed Forces can`t bring their equipment into Northern Ireland without permission, eels can`t leave, the movement of family pets has been restricted, products have disappeared from our shelves and GB companies are stopping trade with Northern Ireland.
“For weeks now we have been told that Article 16 cannot be invoked accompanied by all sorts of feeble excuses for not doing so. The EU has unilaterally blown that concept out of the water by invoking Article 16. They have done it at the drop of a hat. Activating Article 16 is clearly not the nuclear option as portrayed by Alliance, SDLP and Sinn Fein. We were told time and time again that it couldn`t be done. Despite EU claims that they always acted in the best interests of Northern Ireland, when push came to shove, the EU looked after itself.
“The EU is unilaterally invoking Article 16 to protect its own interests and it`s about time the UK Government did the same instead of being lead actors in a ridiculous charade that there is no border in the Irish Sea and that Article 16 can`t be invoked.”