DUP: Brexit Backstop Is Totally Unacceptable To Unionists

DUP Deputy Leader Nigel Dodds has said the backstop within Prime Minister Theresa May's proposed withdrawal agreement is "totally unacceptable to unionists" and must be defeated in the House of Commons.

He was speaking after the full legal advice on the document, submitted by Attorney General Geoffrey Cox, was released to MP's, following a vote of contempt of Parliament against the Government for trying to withhold it.

Mr Cox found that the backstop protocol would "endure indefinitely", despite assurances from Brexit negotiators that it was intended to be temporary.

Mrs May's deal will come before the House of Commons on Tuesday 11 November, as she fights for it's approval amid opposition from the DUP, Labour Party, and some MP's within her own Conservative Party.

Democratic Unionists are opposed to the deal as it aligns Northern Ireland with EU rules and keeps the region in the single market, which could see checks on goods coming in from the UK, if the backstop was implemented.

Mr Dodds said this was "totally unacceptable and economically mad in that it will be erecting internal economic and trade barriers within the United Kingdom".

"This advice concisely sets out the stark reality of the operation of the backstop. Its publication demonstrates how the Prime Minister has failed to abide by the commitments she gave in that the United Kingdom as a whole would leave the European Union and that she would ensure there would be no customs or regulatory divergence within the United Kingdom," the North Belfast MP said.

"This backstop is totally unacceptable to unionists throughout the United Kingdom and it must be defeated and arrangements renegotiated that uphold the commitments which the Prime Minister and her government has in the House of Commons."

The stance of the DUP is in contrast to other political parties in Northern Ireland, with the SDLP Leader Colum Eastwood branding the backstop as "vital".

He said in a statement: "The SDLP have been clear that we support the draft Withdrawal Agreement because of the backstop. It is reckless for anyone to say that there is an alternative, there is not.

"A rejection of this deal on the basis of the backstop will only bring us back to square one. No matter what happens next week in the House of Commons, the backstop is non-negotiable."

Sinn Fein's Stormont leader Michelle O'Neill has accused the DUP of "engaging in a Brexit circus" rather than representing Northern Ireland's majority, and emphasised her party's support for the backstop, along with the SDLP, Alliance and the Green Party.

"The latest wranglings in Westminster are little more than theatre which is motivated by the civil war in the Tory party rather than the substantive issues.

"The DUP is playing a full role in this circus while ignoring the clear will of citizens and industry here who are opposed to Brexit and opposed to any attempt to renegotiate or dilute the backstop as contained in the withdrawal agreement.

"But it is the bottom line. That is the position of the four pro-remain parties. It is the position of the farming sector, business, the community sector and our universities."



(JG)