Recently, Centre for the Union wrote to the Minister of State for Northern Ireland to urge him to take a stand against Northern Ireland being annexed into the customs territory of the EU. After all, this is not Brexit, and this is not compatible with the sovereignty of the United Kingdom.
The response we got was, admittedly disappointing.
The Prime Minister is always welcome in Belfast and every effort must be made for him to understand just how serious a situation this part of the kingdom is in. But he requires laser-like focus to solve this problem.
He can’t leave a part of the U.K. annexed into a zone to protect the EU single market. That is not our job and he can’t leave part of the UK subordinate to EU legal jurisdiction I suspect he has some distance to travel before he can reach a deal.
He may now need to stand up to the EU and let them know he is taking singular action to maintain the kingdom and defend the union and all its people. My fear is nothing I have seen offers the basis to restore power-sharing.
The issue that His Majesty's Government still has failed to grasp is that it is NOT THE UK'S JOB to protect EUs single market. Nor is it right to attempt to use Northern Ireland as a buffer zone between the EU and the UK, after all, you can’t be half pregnant!
This letter is an attempt by the Minister to explain how you can be half pregnant and if this is the blueprint for a protocol agreement it is doomed to fail!