Swann rejects PM’s plan as he lambasts ‘asleep at wheel’ DUP
ULSTER Unionist leader Robin Swann has blasted the inclusion of the backstop in the withdrawal agreement as a “monumental error in judgment”.
He said his party “cannot and will not” support the draft deal.
Mr Swann claimed the proposed plan will see Northern Ireland “potentially drift farther away” from the United Kingdom.
“In the unlikely event that the agreement makes its way through Parliament, its impact will be felt for decades to come,” he said.
“The impact may not necessarily happen immediately but as the months and years pass, the implementation of the disastrous backstop will see Northern Ireland potentially drift farther away from the rest of the United Kingdom unless action is taken to reverse its effects.
“It will act as an incentive for Scottish nationalists, who will use every excuse under the sun to destabilise another part of the United Kingdom.”
Mr Swann criticised the DUP for the agreement, which he said had “happened on their watch”.
“They failed in their primary duty to protect the integrity of the Union and its people. They told the people of Northern Ireland that they had the ear of the Prime Minister, they said that they had influence at the heart of the UK Government,” Mr Swann said.
“The DUP were asleep at the wheel.
“They bear enormous responsibility for what has happened.
“They either misused whatever influence they had or were so full of their own hubris that they didn’t see what was coming down the tracks.”
Mr Swann also said the Irish Government should “be careful what it wishes for” just hours before he addressed an event at Fine Gael’s conference.