PM should take time to get the right deal

Carla Lockhart MP • February 21, 2023

As speculation around an agreement between the Government and the European Union on the Northern Ireland Protocol continues, Upper Bann MP Carla Lockhart has said that the Prime Minister and EU should be in no doubt that unless the seven tests set out by the DUP are met in any new agreement, then Stormont will not return.

Carla Lockhart said:

“The Prime Minister may be in a rush to seal a deal with the EU, but only the right agreement will be supported by the Democratic Unionist Party.

We have always been clear and consistent in our position. We set our the requirements of any new agreement in our seven tests. It is against these tests that we will study any text that emerges between the Government and EU. We have a mandate based on this position and we have no intention of betraying the trust of the electorate.

It is worth the Prime Minister and the EU taking the time to get the agreement right. At stake is the very foundation of our political process, the principle of cross community consent. Only by reaching an agreement that commands the agreement of all communities in Northern Ireland will the basis of power sharing be restored, and the devolved institutions restored.

We want to see such an agreement emerge. We want to restore the devolved institutions. But we will only do so if our seven tests are met.”

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