DUP MP Sammy Wilson has hit out at the “spineless” Conservative Government for signing off and Rishi Sunak’s Brexit deal.
It comes after the deal for Northern Ireland was formally signed off at a meeting in London after the Government won the backing of MPs for the Windsor Framework.
MPs voted in favour of regulations to implement the Stormont breaker a key component of the Windsor agreement.
Speaking on GB News, DUP MP Sammy Wilson said the Government had betrayed Northern Ireland by leaving it as a part of the EU.
Rishi Sunak and Sammy Wilson
PA / GB News
He told Camilla Tominey: “I don’t regret Brexit. What I regret is the spineless way in which the Conservative Government was prepared to treat Northern Ireland like Brexit never happened in this part of the United Kingdom.
“The referendum was a UK-wide referendum to leave the EU and that’s what was promised.
“That’s what should have happened. We have a Government who is prepared to abandon a part of the United Kingdom.
“They thought this was only a temporary arrangement and the EU would put together alternative arrangements in the political declaration.
“The EU didn’t play ball and the UK didn’t have the courage to stand up to the EU for breaking arrangements.
Wilson added that he blames former Prime Minister Boris Johnson most for how the relationship between the UK and the EU has panned out, despite him voting against Rishi Sunak’s deal.
He said: “The box that we are placed was clearly the responsibility of Theresa May.
“She made the arrangement with the EU that there would be no hard border and checks in place and no arrangements to monitor trade between Northern Ireland and the Irish republic.
“Once we were in that box, it was always going to be very difficult for any future PMs to get that changed.
“I still believe Boris Johnson should have stood by his promise, if he had an agreement, he should have had pushed to make that temporary amendment replaced with something workable.
“Theresa May put us in a position and Boris Johnson didn’t fight hard enough to get us out of that position.”
The DUP are continuing to boycott the Stormont Assembly in Northern Ireland in protest at the country’s relationship with the EU.
They have been boycotting the Assembly since February 2022 as they believe the post-Brexit trading arrangements pose a threat to Northern Ireland’s place in the Union.
