Rivals accuse DUP of changing position on their ‘Safeguarding the Union’ deal on daily basis

The DUP leader said his party had not only identified the problems associated with Northern Ireland Protocol, but provided solutions to it through its actions in recent years. He said the party enters the election on a record of delivery on the protocol over the last five years.

Lorna Smyth, who is running for Jim Allister’s party in Lagan Valley, said: “Only the DUP could claim that having said that they had achieved ‘zero checks, zero paperwork’ in February only to concede in June that that wasn’t true to now deny that there had been any U-turn on the issue.

“At the start of this election, Ian Paisley conceded that his party had engaged in ‘spin’ following the publication of the Donaldson/Robinson deal with the government. Significantly, that spin was against the unionist people.

“Furthermore, just last week the DUP rubbished their own deal by calling for mutual enforcement rather than the scheme spelt out in the ‘Safeguarding the Union’ document, which don’t forget, is one the DUP championed.

“The DUP position on the deal which formed the basis of their return to Stormont changes on a daily basis.

“Small wonder then that TUV is the only party, according to polling by Queen’s, to be trusted by unionists to tell the truth about the sea border.”

The DUP last week appeared to have formally abandoned its support for the deal it said earlier this year had restored Northern Ireland’s place in the United Kingdom – as it endorsed alternative mutual enforcement trade arrangements in a Stormont debate.

Mutual enforcement means that authorities either side of the border would enforce the other’s standards where those goods are being exported – removing the need for most border checks.

Deborah Erskine slammed the current arrangements for their impact on trade between NI and the rest of the UK – and appeared to set out mutual enforcement arrangements as the party’s formal policy alternative.

The Fermanagh MLA told the assembly: “We are firmly of the view that it does not require the application of large swathes of EU law on Northern Ireland to secure advantages and mutually beneficial trading arrangements. Mutual recognition would see the 5% of businesses in Northern Ireland that trade with the EU monitored by UK authorities to ensure that they have complied with EU standards and regulations and paid any tariffs due.”

Announcing the ‘Safeguarding the Union’ deal earlier this year, Sir Jeffrey Donaldson said people would look back on it as “the defining time” when Northern Ireland’s place in the Union was safeguarded and its place in the UK’s internal market was restored.

Months later, the deal has essentially been forgotten by the party, which is now seeking new solutions for the Irish Sea border.

The full list of candidates in the Lagan Valley constituency is: Jonathan Buckley (DUP), Robbie Butler (UUP), Patricia Denvir (Green Party), Sorcha Eastwood (Alliance), Simon Lee (SDLP), Lorna Smyth (TUV).