DUP MPs and their Brexiteer allies at Westminster have been accused of "resorting to distraction techniques" to justify Stormont's continued dormancy.
The fresh row over the Windsor Framework came after European Research Group chair Mark Francois claimed Tory MPs likely to vote against elements of February's revised Brexit trade deal were "sacked" by Rishi Sunak's government.
The remarks were endorsed by DUP MP Sammy Wilson, who accused the British government of carrying out a "Stalinist purge" of dissenting MPs.
Mr Francois claimed on Monday, during a heated committee debate over the tactics used to pass aspects of the Windsor Framework, that the process was “blatantly and obviously rigged”.
Speaking directly to Victoria Atkins, the minister in charge of the policy, he said: “Everyone can see this has become a farce. Accept this is gone wrong. It was a mistake.”
His criticisms were echoed by other hardline Brexiteers, including Bill Cash and Jacob Rees-Mogg.
Asked about the remarks on Radio Ulster on Tuesday, Mr Wilson said they were "spot on".
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The East Antrim MP claimed the British government had met with opposition over legislation which "places Northern Ireland as a foreign country so there can be searches carried out of postal packages moving from GB into NI".
"When it became apparent just how draconian and severe and how disrupting this legislation was – then a number of Conservatives said ‘we are going to vote against it’," he said.
"As I said on the committee later on, it was like a Stalinist purge – they simply weren’t going to brook any dissent, so they got rid of the dissenters."
Alliance deputy leader Stephen Farry, who was also present at the committee hearing, said the British government "should learn lessons around process and communications as they put in place different elements of the Windsor Framework".
"I can understand the frustrations of some MPs around the late change of committee members, but some of their antics were childish and petulant," he said.
"In any event all MPs have speaking rights on the committee and the option for a House of Commons vote later."
The North Down MP described the measures in the legislation as an "upgrade on the previous arrangements under the protocol".
"There are no barriers for consumer to consumer packages and a trusted trader system for business to consumer movements," he said.
"There will be some friction in business to business packages using the red lane and some risk based checks in the green lane – with Brexit, there are no perfect outcomes."
SDLP MP Claire Hanna said the minister had outlined that parcels for families, friends and individual consumers "won’t have to engage with customs procedures" but business-to-business transactions "may do – as a consequence of Brexit".
"As the reality of Brexit becomes clearer to everyone, and the rationale for boycotting the assembly has crumbled, some MPs are resorting to more distraction techniques," the South Belfast representative said.
"The Windsor Framework is the settled compromise for managing a hard Brexit and the reality of our geography – we have to get on with implementing it."
