DUP petition to trigger Article 16 of the NI Protocol to be debated in Westminster

By PA

A petition by the DUP to trigger Article 16 of the Northern Ireland Protocol is to be debated at Westminster on February 22.

It has gained almost 140,000 signatures so far.

“It gained 100,000 signatures within 24 hours, we have just received notification that the petition is to be debated in the House of Commons on February 22 and the Government will respond to the petition at that time,” First Minister Arlene Foster said.

“I think it was an indication of how strongly so many people right across the United Kingdom felt about the issue that that petition took off in the way that it did.”

Arlene Foster said people right across the unionist community are “very angry” about the protocol and the way in which the Belfast Agreement has been interpreted by the Irish Government, Brussels and London.

“I have been saying that as First Minister and DUP leader, my former colleague and friend Peter Robinson said as much again today writing for the News Letter. I think that is a very good article and people should read what has been in there and the way in which the Belfast Agreement has been misused,” she said.

Mrs Foster said the Belfast Agreement has three parts – the parties in Northern Ireland, the North/South dimension and the East/West dimension.

“Once you start damaging one of those strands of the Belfast Agreement, then it does have an impact on the overall operation and I have been saying that for some time,” she said.

“People need to listen to what we’re saying, they need to take heed of what is being said by the unionist community and I hope that the message is being heard in London, and in Dublin and Brussels because we need to deal with this issue and deal with it quickly.”