A SENIOR Tory MP has called on the British government to rejoin the EU single market in a bid to help ease the cost of living crisis.
Tobias Ellwood said he believes the move would help bolster the economy as well as resolve the Northern Ireland Protocol "at a stroke".
He said the Brexit deal negotiated by the government had left industry "strangled" by red tape and more should be done to "better maximise our Brexit fortunes".
The DUP has blocked the establishment of the assembly since Sinn Féin emerged as the largest party in last month's election.
The party has refused to support the election of a new speaker or first and deputy first minister until there is "action" on the protocol.
In an article for the House parliamentary magazine, Mr Ellwood said the government's decision to diverge from EU rules, or what was dubbed by some as a 'hard Brexit', had done significant damage to UK exporters.
He said exports to Europe had shrunk by £20 billion and the issue of the protocol remained unresolved.
"All these challenges would disappear if we dare to advance our Brexit model by rejoining the EU single market," he wrote.
He said while he recognised that the UK would have to accept certain EU regulations if it rejoined the single market, including the free movement of people, he believes that doing so would eliminate post-Brexit paperwork worth £7 billion.
It comes as Sinn Féin vice-president Michelle O'Neill, who met EU leaders in Brussels this week, said efforts were needed to "put forward the need for positive, constructive solutions to outstanding issues around the Protocol".
She joined Sinn Féin President Mary Lou McDonald and MEP Chris MacManus in Brussels to meet officials, which included vice-president of the European Commission Maroš Šef?ovi?.
Writing in today's Irish News Ms O'Neill said they "made it absolutely clear that people in the north, our society and our businesses will not be held to ransom by game-playing or political brinkmanship from Brexiteers".
Meanwhile, two former DUP first ministers welcomed a Sinn Féin move to write to Queen Elizabeth on the occasion of the Platinum Jubilee.
Ms O'Neill sent a letter to the British monarch to praise her "significant" contribution to the peace process and to acknowledge her "dedicated public service to the British people" during her 70 years on the throne.
Former DUP leader Dame Arlene Foster praised Ms O'Neill's gesture while DUP MLA Paul Givan said it showed the progress that had been achieved in recent years.
