No Stormont while EU rules remain, says TUV's Jim Allister

No unionist worthy of the name should contemplate returning to Stormont while the Brexit trading arrangements remain, Jim Allister has said.

The leader of the Traditional Unionist Voice (TUV) told the party's annual conference that to accept the new deal would be to accept that NI would never again be a full part of the UK.

The Windsor Framework was formally adopted by the UK and EU on Friday.

Mr Allister said it did not change a thing and NI was under foreign rule.

The framework, which builds on the Northern Ireland Protocol, is designed to make trade between Northern Ireland and the rest of the UK easier.

It gives the devolved Stormont assembly more say over EU rules in a mechanism known as the Stormont brake.

But Mr Allister described it as "a con, a fake and should fool no-one".

There has been no functioning government at Stormont for more than a year since the largest unionist party - the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) - withdrew from the institutions in protest over the protocol.

Mr Allister criticised the DUP's eight-person panel to gauge opinion on the Windsor Framework, describing its purpose as "giving a soft landing to climbdown".

Unionism is heading into tricky waters, Mr Allister said, accusing Ulster Unionist Party leader Doug Beattie of "jumping ship to SS Surrender".

To accept the Windsor Framework was to accept a trajectory towards Irish unity and a Sinn Féin first minister, Mr Allister added.

Sinn Féin won the highest number of seats in last May's assembly election, meaning Michelle O'Neill would be entitled to the first minister position.

Despite seeing a surge in vote share in that election, the TUV returned one assembly member - its leader Mr Allister.

He urged those who want to see strong unionist representation to vote for the party in the local council elections on 18 May.