THE DUP has been accused of "making it up as they go along" following comments by Arlene Foster on trading arrangements after Brexit.
The party leader said it was her understanding that such arrangements could be agreed by a committee of Northern Ireland MPs if the Assembly is still not up and running.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson's plan gives Stomont the power to decide whether Northern Ireland remains aligned with EU regulations after Brexit, but it does not outline what happens if devolution is still suspended.
Of the 18 MP seats in Westminster, the DUP has 10 while Sinn Féin has seven but they do not sit because of the party's abstentionist policy. The other seat is held by Independent, Lady Sylvia Hermon.
However, UUP MLA Doug Beattie poured scorn on Mrs Foster's proposal, saying that "only days ago Downing Street sources were saying that Northern Ireland would be subjected to another referendum if devolution wasn’t restored".
"It can’t be both, but it does demonstrate that the Foster/Johnson plan hasn’t been properly thought through. The DUP are flying by the seat of their pants," he said.
“These proposals, and the uncertainty which they bring, will cause constitutional and economic damage to Northern Ireland.
"Not only have the DUP done a complete U-turn on a border in the Irish Sea, but Northern Ireland will still come under the jurisdiction of EU courts while the rest of the UK moves on."
Ulster Unionist peer Lord Empey also accused the DUP of backtracking, describing the Brexit deal as "ghastly".
He said one of the key arguments for the UK leaving the European Union was the opportunity to do new trade deals with the rest of the world.
But he said "Arlene ‘two borders’ Foster has put paid to that".
"Under her plan, Great Britain will be able to do such deals, whether with President Trump or whoever, but Northern Ireland will be excluded as we will remain in and governed by the rules of the EU single market and ruled by the EU courts, another red line that the DUP has broken," he said.
He warned that the long-term effects of the proposals would be "to align the Northern Ireland economy to the Dublin economy and we will diverge over time from the GB economy".
But DUP Lagan Valley MP Sir Jeffrey Donaldson said unionist voters want their leaders to work together and that Lord Empey "is still fighting battles against the DUP which he lost fifteen years ago".
"We want the referendum result implemented. We want a sensible deal between the UK and the EU. We have worked with the Prime Minister to make a reasonable offer. The reaction in Dublin in itself undermines Lord Empey’s scaremongering and defeatism. This deal removes the threat of the backstop and fully respects our constitutional position within the UK," he said.
"Sinn Féin and Dublin know it and that is why they have expressed their opposition to this deal with so much anger."
Meanwhile, the Taoiseach Leo Varadkaher has told a Fine Gael event in Dublin there is still time to come up with a deal.
"It is possible at the European Council summit in two weeks' time but the current position as of today is the European Union, including Ireland, doesn't feel that the proposals put forward by Prime Minister Johnson yet form the basis for deeper negotiations," he said.
Brexit Secretary Stephen Barclay told the BBC's Andrew Marr Show yesterday that more advanced negotiations would need to begin "in the coming days" for a deal to be reached before the current Brexit deadline of October 31.
