Letter: If DUP accepts protocol deal it would be refreshingly honest if it also admits the consequences of doing so

When Sir Jeffrey Donaldson announces the DUP’s acceptance of the NI Protocol (rebadged as The Windsor Framework), it would be refreshingly honest if he also makes clear to the electorate the consequences of doing so.

Firstly, that the DUP will, in voting to appoint Michelle O’Neill as first minister of Northern Ireland, be forgiving or forgetful, of her analysis that “there was no alternative” to the IRA murdering thousands of innocent citizens. In sharing a public platform recently with Ms O’Neill, the DUP Leader appeared to be preparing the ground for this.

Secondly, that in taking their place within the Northern Ireland Executive and implementing the NI Protocol they will be playing an active role in the destruction of the United Kingdom and the advancement of a United Ireland.

Individuals, political parties and corporate bodies are perfectly entitled to choose to surrender their identity and/or change their raison d’etre. However, to do so whilst pretending otherwise is disingenuous and cowardly.

No amount of packaging and propaganda can disguise the fact that The Windsor Framework is nothing more than a Windsor knot carefully designed to tie Northern Ireland ever closer to the Republic of Ireland and, within the next decade or two, pull the United Kingdom apart.

Thomas Smyth, Belfast BT4