DUP North Antrim MLA Mervyn Storey has urged the wider community to sign his Party’s Parliamentary e-petition calling on the Government to restore in full Northern Ireland’s place of the UK internal market for trade.
Commenting, Mr Storey said:
‘‘The Northern Ireland Protocol was foisted upon local communities without their consent. As a result, it is causing serious disruption to trade from Great Britain which is by far our biggest and most important market. Businesses face costly new requirements, our supermarkets have fewer products on their shelves, local garden centres are unable to supply products they’ve sold for decades. It even seems even our pets are not immune from attack. This simply can’t continue.
“Now that the EU has shown its true colours by casting aside previous promises about ‘no hard border in Ireland’ and being willing to use Article 16 to blockade vital health supplies coming to our Province it is time the Government stepped up to the mark and protected Northern Ireland’s rightful place in the UK.
“The DUP has consistently opposed these undemocratic and divisive arrangements and we are pleased that there is universal opposition across Unionism to oppose the Protocol and a desire to hold those local parties who championed it to account. We must now translate that unity of purpose into direct action.
“As part of our five-point plan for freeing us from the Protocol we have created an e-petition calling on Her Majesty’s Government to trigger Article 16 and immediately remove any impediment or barrier to unfettered trade within the United Kingdom. I would encourage the local community to make its voice heard by signing this petition and sending a strong message to the Prime Minister that such disruption to businesses and households in Northern Ireland will not be tolerated.’’
