Trade data release on Northern Ireland Protocol impact

4 releases from 4 parties, 14 December 2022.

Each party’s website press releases, in order of publication

1. Hard data demolishes Protocol lies: O’Toole

   • SDLP
   • 14 December 2022
   • Response to an event
   • Criticises another northern ireland political party or its representatives

   Matthew O’Toole MLA, the SDLP’s Assembly group leader and Brexit spokesperson, says new NISRA figures refute DUP and UK minister claims that the Protocol has damaged GB‑NI trade, showing a 7% rise in purchases from Great Britain and higher export volumes to the Republic and EU, and calls for a plan

   Original release (opens in a new tab)

2. Internal UK trade highlights need to restore NI’s place within UK…

   • DUP
   • 14 December 2022
   • Policy proposal
   • Criticises the uk government or a uk minister
   • Contains a proposal

   DUP Leader Sir Jeffrey Donaldson says trade with the rest of the UK shows why Northern Ireland's standing in the UK internal market must be fully reinstated. He argues the Trader Support Service is propping up trade and calls on the government to make the restoration a priority.

   Original release (opens in a new tab)

3. Trade data debunks false claims around the Protocol – Archibald

   • Sinn Féin
   • 14 December 2022
   • Response to an event
   • Criticises someone else

   Sinn Féin MLA Caoimhe Archibald says newly released trade data shows the Protocol is having a positive impact on the local economy, citing increased trade from Britain to the north. She calls for an early negotiated settlement between the British government and the EU to give businesses certainty.

   Original release (opens in a new tab)

4. Beware of the spin of Protocol fanatics

   • TUV
   • 14 December 2022
   • Response to an event
   • Criticises another northern ireland political party or its representatives

   TUV leader Jim Allister warns against spin on NISRA 2021 trade figures, arguing the claimed GB trade rise compares with a Covid-depressed 2020 and that grace periods and the £300m Business Support Service mask the Protocol's full impact. He says the Protocol remains irredeemable for unionists.

   Original release (opens in a new tab)

Parties with no matching press release found on their website

• Alliance: no matching statement found on the party’s monitored website.
• UUP: no matching statement found on the party’s monitored website.
• Green Party: no matching statement found on the party’s monitored website.
• PBP: no matching statement found on the party’s monitored website – coverage for this period is incomplete (partly recovered), so a statement may have been missed.
• Aontú: no matching statement found on the party’s monitored website – coverage for this period is incomplete (partly recovered), so a statement may have been missed.

This does not show that a party said nothing: it may have commented elsewhere, in a release this system did not link to the issue, or in a release that has not been recovered.