Fix protocol to get us back to Stormont

Sir Jeffrey Donaldson was addressing the DUP conference in south Belfast, where he told party delegates that he did not fear another election at the end of this year.

Explaining to applause the reason why the DUP was refusing to participate in power-sharing, he said that the barrier between Great Britain and Northern Ireland is “simply not sustainable and is incompatible with devolution”.

Speaking at the Crowne Plaza hotel, Sir Jeffrey sent a message to the UK government and the EU that the largest unionist party was prepared to end its boycott of the Stormont institutions: “For the benefit of those watching in London and Brussels, let me restate our clear commitment.

“If decisive action is taken on the protocol that restores our place fully within the United Kingdom, then yes this party will take its place once again in a fully functioning executive.

”But conference, I know, and you know, we have the support of tens of thousands across Northern Ireland who want us to prevail on this fundamental issue."

The DUP leader said that such action on the Irish Sea border might come in the form of the NI Protocol Bill or in a negotiation with the EU but that it was the outcome that mattered, rather than the process.

Referring to the government’s increasingly frequent warning that it will call an election if there is no devolution by October 28, issued again on Friday by the NI Secretary Chris-Heaton Harris after the British-Irish Intergovernmental Conference in London, Sir Jeffrey said:“We do not fear the prospect of a fresh election, far from it.

"If in the absence of his government righting the wrongs visited upon Northern Ireland the secretary of state calls an Assembly election ... we are ready and we will take our case to the people as the lead party of unionism.

“We will campaign as never before to secure a further fresh mandate from the people.

“The government needs to tread sensitively and act wisely if they wish to see unionist confidence rebuilt and the conditions created for durable power-sharing.”

Sir Jeffrey spoke of the benefits of a local parliament: "A fully functioning devolved government, built on solid foundations and working with London can make Northern Ireland a better place by fixing our health service, by building more schools, by training more GPs and by helping working families through the provision of better childcare support.

"However, the structures of government at Stormont can only work with the support and buy in of unionists and nationalists."

Sir Jeffrey Donaldson said: "The imposition of the protocol upon Northern Ireland has damaged and undermined the workings of our political institutions.

"They cannot work without the restoration of the delicate political balance that was negotiated over many years and which has been disrupted by the protocol."