UK Government must deliver promise on unfettered trade – Little-Pengelly
The DUP agreed the Safeguarding the Union command paper with the previous government in 2024, which allowed it to return to the Stormont powersharing Executive at Stormont.
However, the unionist party says that all of its concerns over post-Brexit trading arrangements have not been met.
The Windsor Framework, and its predecessor the Northern Ireland Protocol, require checks and customs paperwork on goods moving from Great Britain into Northern Ireland.
Under the arrangements, which were designed to ensure no hardening of the Irish land border post-Brexit, Northern Ireland continues to follow many EU trade and customs rules.
DUP MLA Ms Little-Pengelly told the gathering in Lisburn that unionism faced 'new challenges'.
She said: 'Chief amongst them is the imposition of the sea border within our own country.
'A division between Northern Ireland and the rest of the United Kingdom that no unionist can ever truly accept.
'It is not enough to celebrate our culture if we do not stand to defend it.
'The union is not a distant idea.
'It is our political, economic and emotional home.
'A border in the Irish Sea undermines that home, it divides our people, disrupts our trade and dilutes our identity.'
She added: 'The Government of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland made a clear and unambiguous promise to fully restore unfettered internal trade across this United Kingdom.
'That was a promise to the people of Northern Ireland.
'They must deliver it.'
The deputy First Minister said it was a time for 'confident and positive strong unionism'.
She described the Orange Order as a 'great unifier across many strands of our unionist conviction'.
Ms Little-Pengelly said: 'Unionism must work together outside of the Order.
'This is a time for vigilance, but it is also a time of opportunity.
'Division brings fracture and weakness, it is unity that brings strength.
'We must recognise that the bonds which pull and bind us together will always mean we have so much more in common than what can ever divide us.'
She added: 'Let us recognise the talents and abilities across all shades of unionism, and by using all such, our case will not only be strengthened, but indeed undeniable and irresistible.
'Let me be very clear, the might of the case for our continued union will always be our biggest strength.'
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Telegraph
2 hours ago
- Telegraph
Perverted liberalism has led to neo-Marxism, perverted patriotism may yet lead to neo-fascism
It is, on balance, helpful, that the current American president and vice-president are both interested in Britain. We are one of the few allies not deliberately antagonised by the Trump administration. This is a Brexit benefit. Yesterday, Donald Trump had things to do in Anchorage, Alaska, but last month he was in Aberdeenshire, and next month he will be over here for his second state visit. JD Vance, the vice-president, ended the week staying on an estate in Ayrshire, after spending a few days near Adlestrop in the Cotswolds, scene of Edward Thomas's much anthologised pastoral poem about a summer railway station where nothing happens. What draws these two powerful men here? Mr Trump likes – and owns – golf courses, and his mother came from the Hebrides. He seems to prefer her Scottish roots to his father's German ones, and he is in love with the British monarchy. Mr Vance has Scottish roots, too, but his quest seems more cultural, intellectual and political. He was mixing a family holiday (accompanied by a few non-political old mates) with discussions about ideas with his English friend, Dr James Orr, a Cambridge theologian, and Danny Kruger, the Conservative MP who recently made a powerful parliamentary speech in favour of Christianity in Britain. He saw the billionaire businessman Sir Paul Marshall, owner of The Spectator and patron of several conservative and Christian causes. The vice-president entertained and was entertained by Tom Skinner – patriotic Essex man, former market trader and star of The Apprentice, whose catchword is 'Bosh' – and a much more famous public entertainer, currently from Clacton, called Nigel Farage. Through the good offices of George Osborne, a surprising ally, given Mr Osborne's Remainer, globalist views, Mr Vance also met assorted Conservatives – Robert Jenrick, Chris Philp, Laura Trott and the rising star of the party's new intake, Katie Lam. It was a mark of how even Tory centrists feel the need to trim to the Atlantic wind that the journalist Daniel Finkelstein was among the guests. Lord Finkelstein's column this week was a fine read for Kremlinologists, as it sidled cautiously closer to Mr Farage. There is something attractive about Mr Vance's quest for ideas. Although it can be tactless (and may be intended to be), his readiness to propagate them is refreshing too. Since the days of Theodore Roosevelt, who invented it, the 'bully pulpit' has been the property of the US president. Mr Trump, however, is more bully than pulpit, and Mr Vance, a Catholic convert, is a most articulate preacher. He is searching, like so many, for a conservatism which goes deeper than economics and pays greater heed to those left behind by social change and discriminated against by modern public doctrine. He is influenced in this by the National Conservatism movement in the United States. In developing these views, Mr Vance and Maga allies identify 'woke' as their main internal opponent. They see woke doctrines, advancing under the camouflage of liberal tolerance, as neo-Marxist attempts to set different groups, tribes and classes against one another and to dissolve the proud historical identity of the nation state. This is an even more incendiary subject in America than in Britain but, goodness knows, it is hotting up here, chiefly because of this century's huge increase in immigration encouraged under both main parties. Mr Vance has expressed this vividly: 'I think the people whose ancestors fought in the Civil War have a hell of a lot more claim over America than the people who say they don't belong today.' He seeks allies for a comparable message here and, in more directly political terms, for the best political vehicle. He is contemplating a different party configuration on the Right. At present, he sees Reform, if allied with 'sound' Tories, as the likelier means than the present Conservative Party. I have my doubts about the practicality of that, and the wisdom of foreign politicians, Anglophile though they may be, getting involved. But what I want to discuss today is not party-political manoeuvring. It is the philosophical and moral ways in which the Vance Anglosphere crusade – given the militant Christian roots involved, the word 'crusade' may be apposite – could all go wrong. I write as someone who wants it to go right. The first danger – though I agree that Christianity is the most important single root of our institutions, our civil society and our shared culture – arises because there is usually something unscrupulous about using Christianity as a political weapon. Look at how politics in the Muslim world is corrupted by Islamist ideology and you will see the analogy. The second danger is that the anti-wokeists may replicate on their side what they so dislike about their opponents. Just as woke people try to smear all conservatives as racists, so some conservatives smear all wokeists as unpatriotic traitors. Many Maga supporters are doing this already, especially online. They lament how the 'mutual loyalty' of American society has been gashed by political correctness, but they are not doing much to bind up the wounds. Like that of woke, their rhetoric attracts people who enjoy hating other people. If perverted liberalism leads to neo-Marxism, could not perverted patriotism lead to neo-fascism? Take, for example, Dr Orr's recent advocacy of the slogan 'Faith, Flag and Family'. All three are indeed good things, but he, an intelligent and well-educated man, must know how similar are these words to the propaganda of Vichy France (' Famille. Travail. Patrie '). One well-known Vichy poster contrasted an attractive, well-built house founded on these principles with a crumbling one built on 'capital', 'Jewishness', 'democracies' and other supposed evils. Does that not worry him? It should. In the United States, sometimes assisted by people as prominent as Tucker Carlson, anti-Semitism, which in the past 30 years has become increasingly the property of the Left, is being reclaimed by elements on the Right. A good index of bad trends of thought is what some on the Right say about Ukraine. There are, of course, reasonable arguments to make for peace talks, but note the omissions. Neither President Trump nor his vice-president ever says that Putin's invasion struck against the 80-year peace of all Europe, which depends on inviolable borders. Neither draws attention to Putin's more minor but significant provocations and infiltrations in most other eastern European nations. Note, too, the shifting of blame – most strikingly on to President Zelensky himself, whose crime seems to have been to refuse to run away as the Russian tanks rolled towards Kyiv – and also on to the West in general (a persistent claim made by Nigel Farage). Finally, note how the wilder attacks on wokeism in the West invoke Putin almost as the goodie. On the BBC in May, Dr Orr appeared with the Liberal Democrat MP, Max Wilkinson. Complaining (rightly) about growing free speech restrictions in this country, Dr Orr said, 'A lot more people have got into trouble in the UK for free speech offences than in Putin's Russia.' When challenged for this astonishing statement, he 'gladly' promised to send Mr Wilkinson the evidence to back it up. He has never done so. If Maga people are sincere, as I believe they are, in wishing to reassert the self-determination of independent nation states and disapproving of imperial 'forever wars', why do they excuse Putin's Russia and disparage Ukraine's battle to maintain the rights of nationhood? How did the national conservatism of Edmund Burke get muddled up with the Putinist opportunism of Viktor Orban's government in Hungary?
Daily Mail
5 hours ago
- Daily Mail
Britain cannot take four more years of Labour. Is there NO way to get rid of Starmer and his utterly useless crew? A howl of despair from DANIEL HANNAN
Britain cannot take four more years. Four more years of firehosing public money in all directions. Four more years of pillaging what's left of the private sector to placate public-sector unions. Four more years of surrendering to every foreign state, from Mauritius to the EU. Four more years of talking tough on immigration while doing nothing to deter it. Four more years of street crime. Four more years of jailing people for posting the wrong opinions while releasing muggers and sex offenders early. Four more years of rising prices, rising taxes, rising unemployment.
Belfast Telegraph
6 hours ago
- Belfast Telegraph
‘Completely unacceptable': Unionists hit out after flag stolen from Orange Hall in Co Antrim
South Antrim MP Robin Swann said the vandalism, which is understood to have occurred on Thursday night, should be roundly condemned. 'The destruction of the flagpole and theft of the union flag at Mossley Orange Hall is incredibly disappointing to see and should be condemned by all,' he said. "This vandalism, carried out last night, is completely unacceptable and I urge anyone with information to speak to PSNI. "My colleagues have been in contact with the Lodge following this attack on their hall, and I will be offering to give my support however I can.' Antrim and Newtownabbey UUP Councillor Robert Foster said there had never been an incident at the hall before. "This is a resource used by the whole local community, and recently the District and Lodge have held proactive outreach nights exploring the origins and history of the Orange Order as part of their work to strengthen community relations,' he said. "The lodge will have my full support and assistance in replacing the flagpole and flag as quickly as possible.' DUP MLA for the area, Trevor Clarke, said the attack was an example of 'sectarian vandalism'. "This is petty, pointless sectarian vandalism, and it's part of a worrying trend of sectarian attacks on Orange Halls across Northern Ireland,' he said. "I've spoken with the Lodge, they've contacted the PSNI, and I'll also be writing to raise this with police leadership. We need stronger, visible efforts to tackle these blatantly sectarian crimes before tensions escalate further. We need your consent to load this Social Media content. We use a number of different Social Media outlets to manage extra content that can set cookies on your device and collect data about your activity. "And to the sectarian idiots behind this, one day, you'll be caught. "One day, you'll sit in a job interview and have to explain why you've a criminal record for a hate crime, theft and criminal damage... because you 'struck a blow for Irish freedom' one night by breaking into an Orange Hall, destroying a flagpole and stealing a Union Jack just because you are filled with sectarian hatred. Well done.' Why is the M3 closed this weekend ? The PSNI has been approached for comment.
