Speaking on the issue, Carla Lockhart MP said:

“The Irish Sea Border is economically damaging Northern Ireland. I was not, and will not be, found wanting in the fight against it, and the economic and constitutional damage caused by the Protocol and Windsor Framework.

The much-publicised US–UK trade deal is being sold as a huge victory for UK business, and for firms in Great Britain that may be true. They now have a clear path to trade with the United States without the suffocating bureaucracy that their neighbours in Northern Ireland are forced to endure.

The Irish Sea Border is real. It affects nearly every business in Northern Ireland. From the shopper in Lurgan to the manufacturer in Craigavon, from the farmer in Waringstown to the exporter in Portadown, this story could be retold all over Northern Ireland.

The greatest obstacle to change is not just Brussels, but the slavish devotion to the EU displayed by the Alliance Party, the SDLP, and Sinn Féin. If the EU decrees it, they will cheer it on no matter how damaging or costly it is to Northern Ireland. And when the UK Government dares to defend the integrity of the UK as a whole, these same voices erupt into political hysteria.

The costs to business are clear. Retail chains face empty shelves because goods from Great Britain are trapped in customs bureaucracy before they can even reach Northern Ireland stores. Small businesses are walking away from cross-channel trade altogether because the paperwork and costs are unbearable. Farmers pay more for animal feed imported from England than their competitors in the Republic pay for the same product from the EU. Hauliers are wasting days, not hours, on checks, inspections, and form-filling, all for goods moving within the United Kingdom.

The US–EU trade deal might smooth over a few of these bumps, but it leaves whole sectors untouched and there is more pain ahead. In Upper Bann, we have world-leading pharmaceutical companies. The higher EU tariffs on medicines should mean a competitive advantage for Northern Ireland businesses trading with the US. But will Sinn Féin or the SDLP fight for that advantage? Not likely. Brussels comes first in their order of priorities.

Northern Ireland needs to take its place on the world stage, free to trade and prosper as a fully equal part of the United Kingdom. Those who constantly talk down our country need to start championing it at home and abroad, instead of acting as mouthpieces for Brussels.

Will they rise to that challenge? I will not hold my breath.”