DUP MP says party’s protocol stance has support in London

Sammy Wilson, the DUP MP for East Antrim, has said that the DUP’s recent moves have created “a lot of excitement, a lot of queries”.

He added: “There’s been a lot of support I have to say. I don’t know how many members, especially from the Conservative Party who have said they’re glad that a decision like this has been made”.

The comments come after Paul Givan’s resignation as first minister, in protest over the NI protocol on Thursday. His move meant Sinn Féin’s Deputy First Minister Michelle O’Neill also lost her position in Stormont. 

An order from Northern Ireland’s agriculture minister, Democratic Unionist Party politician Edwin Poots, ordered that checks on goods along the Irish Sea Border be stopped. This was the latest move in the DUP’s long-standing opposition the post-Brexit deal.